PCT will supply study medication for the US part of Kiadis Pharma’s Phase III clinical trial with ATIR101™
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 21, 2016 – Kiadis Pharma N.V. (“Kiadis Pharma” or the “Company”) (Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels: KDS), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative T-cell immunotherapy treatments for blood cancers and inherited blood disorders, today announces that it has appointed PCT, LLC, A Caladrius Company (PCT), a subsidiary of Caladrius Biosciences (NASDAQ: CLBS), as Kiadis Pharma’s contract manufacturing organization (CMO) in the United States as Kiadis Pharma makes preparations for its Phase III clinical trial with lead product ATIR101™, on track to be initiated in the second half of 2016.
PCT and Kiadis Pharma already closely collaborated on improving and engineering the ATIR101™ manufacturing process for the Company’s Phase III trial. As a result, the technology and processes are already well established at PCT’s Allendale, New Jersey, US facility and PCT will supply study medication to the various Phase III clinical trial sites in the United States and Canada.
With regards to the European clinical sites for the Phase III trial, also expected to initiate in the second half of 2016, the Company already has a long-running and successful manufacturing collaboration with the German Red Cross Blood Donor Service, Baden-Wuerttemberg-Hessen, who provided GMP manufacturing services for Kiadis Pharma’s Phase II clinical studies with ATIR101™.
Manfred Rüdiger, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Kiadis Pharma, commented: “We are pleased to select PCT as our CMO in the United States. The manufacture and supply of study medication for our Phase III clinical trial with ATIR101™ in the United States and Canada is a critical component to the successful and smooth running of our clinical study and having a partner who is well established and highly experienced, like PCT, is very important. PCT has been an excellent advisor and provider of process development to Kiadis Pharma in the past and we look forward to leveraging those efforts as we begin to broaden the activities of Kiadis Pharma in the United States.”
Robert A. Preti, PhD, President of PCT, and Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Technical Operations of Caladrius Biosciences, commented: “We are very grateful for the opportunity to have participated in manufacturing development with the Kiadis Pharma team, working collaboratively for a number of years now to help them advance to this important milestone, the launch of a Phase III trial of ATIR101™. We now wish them success in the execution of their Phase III trial and will do our part to make that success a reality in the US and Canada.”
About ATIR101™
For patients suffering from blood cancers, an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is generally regarded as the most effective curative approach. During an HSCT treatment, the bone marrow, harboring the diseased cancer cells, is completely destroyed and subsequently replaced by stem cells in the graft from a healthy donor. After an HSCT treatment it usually takes the patient at least six to twelve months to recover to near-normal blood cell levels and immune cell functions. During this period, the patient is highly vulnerable to infections caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi but also to disease relapse.
ATIR101™ (Allodepleted T-cell ImmunotheRapeutics) provides for a safe donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) from a partially matched (haploidentical) family member without the risk of causing severe Graft-versus-Host-Disease (GVHD). The T-cells in ATIR101™ will help fight infections and remaining tumor cells and thereby bridge the time until the immune system has fully re-grown from stem cells in the transplanted graft.
In ATIR101™, T-cells that would cause GVHD are eliminated from the donor lymphocytes using Kiadis Pharma’s photodepletion technology, minimizing the risk of GVHD and eliminating the need for prophylactic immune-suppression. At the same time, ATIR101™ contains potential cancer killing T-cells from the donor that could eliminate residual cancer cells and help prevent relapse of the disease, known as the Graft-versus-Leukemia (GVL) effect.
Therefore, ATIR101™, administered as an adjunctive immuno-therapeutic on top of HSCT, provides the patient with functional, mature immune cells from a partially matched family donor that can fight infections and tumor cells but that do not cause GVHD. ATIR101™ thus has the potential to make curative HSCT a viable option to many more patients.
The Company estimates that approximately 35% of patients who are eligible and in urgent need of HSCT will not find a matching donor in time. A partially matched (haploidentical) family donor, however, will be available to over 95% of patients.
ATIR101™, consisting of donor T-cells that fight infections and residual tumor cells while not eliciting severe GVHD, is designed to result in low relapse rates and low rates of death due to infections, in the absence of severe acute GVHD.
About Kiadis Pharma
Kiadis Pharma is focused on cell-based immunotherapy products for the treatment of blood cancers and inherited blood disorders. The Company’s products have the potential to address the risks and limitations connected with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), namely Graft-versus-Host-Disease (GVHD), cancer relapse, opportunistic infections and limited matched donor availability. The Company believes that HSCT could become a first-choice treatment for blood cancers, inherited blood disorders and possibly autoimmune diseases and solid organ transplantations.
In April 2016, the Company reported positive Phase II results with its lead product ATIR101™ in patients with blood cancer. The data showed that ATIR101™ significantly reduced Transplant Related Mortality and significantly improved Overall Survival. In addition, ATIR101™ did not elicit grade III-IV GVHD in any patient. ATIR101™ has been granted Orphan Drug Designations both in the US and Europe. The Company’s second product candidate, ATIR201™, addresses inherited blood disorders with an initial focus on thalassemia, a disease which results in destruction of red blood cells in patients. ATIR201™ is expected to enter Phase I/II clinical development in the second half of 2016.
Kiadis Pharma, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, was granted an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) certificate for manufacturing quality and non-clinical data by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The Company’s shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels. For more information visit www.kiadis.com
