New hope for the PAH patient: A Novel Therapeutic for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)

Project Information

PAH-HOPE

Grant agreement ID: 822258

DOI

10.3030/822258

Project closed

EC signature date 17 July 2018

Start date 1 October 2018

End date 31 March 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 3 570 000,00

EU contribution

€ 2 499 000,00

Coordinated by

ATXA THERAPEUTICS LTD
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PAH-HOPE (New hope for the PAH patient: A Novel Therapeutic for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH))

Reporting period: 2019-10-01 to 2021-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a debilitating and life-threatening disease that begins in the lungs of the PAH patient but can also rapidly affect the heart, resulting in heart failure and death. The disease occurs in people at any age and is 3-4 times more prevalent in women than men. Despite being classed as a rare or orphan disease, affecting 15-50 patients in a million, PAH carries an enormous burden on the patient and healthcare systems globally. While current drugs can slow the rate at which the disease advances and extend life expectancy, they are less than effective in treating most aspects of the disease. Moreover, many of the current therapies are poorly tolerated and carry serious side-effects. Thus, in the opinion of PAH patients, treating physicians and healthcare payors, there is “an urgent medical need for new drugs to new drug targets which treat all aspects of the disease”.
ATXA Therapeutics Ltd (ATXA), a biotech company based in Dublin (Ireland), has developed novel therapeutic drugs targeting an entirely unique pathway that treats all hallmark causes and symptoms of PAH. Based on evidence from animal models of the disease, ATXA’s lead NTP42 is predicted to be a truly disruptive disease-modifying drug, treating all aspects of PAH and without carrying any serious side-effects. As an external endorsement of this, ATXA has secured orphan designation from the main regulatory authorities in Europe (the European Medicines Agency/ EMA) and in the USA (the Food and Drugs Administration/ FDA) for use of NTP42 in PAH patients following market launch.
Thus, through the exciting opportunity afforded to ATXA by the H2020 SME Instrument-funding mechanism, the mission and overarching objective of PAH-HOPE was to bring new hope to the PAH patient by advancing NTP42 into clinical development, starting with scaled up drug manufacture through to securing regulatory clinical trial authorization (CTA). Securing CTA, a major milestone for PAH-HOPE, positions ATXA to advance NTP42 to Phase I-III clinical trial testing in humans through to marketing authorization and product launch in 2027, thereby solving the urgent unmet medical need of the PAH patient, treating physician, healthcare payor and market. Through an ambitious series of technical, regulatory and business-led activities or work packages, involving a highly skilled and dedicated team, PAH-HOPE has delivered on its mission and overall objective.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Through the activities of the SMEI funded program, ATXA have successfully secured Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) approval, the ultimate objective of PAH-HOPE and a major milestone for the company. Granting of CTA, by the UK’s Medicines and Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA), marks NTP42’s entry into clinical development, putting ATXA on an exciting journey to realise its mission of bringing new hope to the PAH patient.
The achievement of the CTA is a direct result of the successful completion of a comprehensive program of technical, regulatory, commercialization and KOL engagement work packages, overseen by effective program management and governance. Through PAH-HOPE, the team have successfully completed the scaled-up manufacture generating high quality pharmaceutical grade NTP42 that exceeds pre-approved specifications while also developing a unique and highly efficient, robust manufacturing process (Drug Substance Manufacture). Following on from scale-up manufacture, the PAH-HOPE team have developed and manufactured a formulated drug product that is suitable for use an oral medicine (Formulation and Packaging). Moreover, ATXA’s drug has been evaluated in a formal Drug Safety and Toxicology program with no adverse events identified that would prevent its use in humans. With the successful completion of these technical activities, the PAH-HOPE team completed the dossier of regulatory documents required for the CTA filing, including preparing and finalizing the first formal drafts of the Investigational Medicinal Product Dossier (IMPD) and Investigator’s Brochure (IB). These documents were included in the CTA submission to the MHRA, which following their review was approved, paving the way for ATXA’s First-in-Human (FIH) Phase I clinical trial in healthy volunteers.
In parallel to the technical and regulatory work packages, the PAH-HOPE management team advanced the business and commercial objectives of the program and company, where a robust, yet adaptable business plan has been generated along with other supporting business and/or promotional material to meet the demands of current and future investors. Furthermore, the scientific and management team have made substantial progress in activities generally associated with Engagement & Communication, disseminating the mission, objectives, results and achievements of PAH-HOPE to all stakeholders, be they the PAH patient, our ultimate customer, key opinion leaders (KOLs) expert in pharmaceutical development, business strategy, fundraising or patient treatment. This has involved a variety of platforms, be it through scheduled face-to-face or virtual meetings, attendance or podium presentations at clinical or investor conferences, press releases, media coverage, formal peer-review manuscript publications or through on-line portals such as the dedicated PAH-HOPE website (https://www.atxatherapeutics.com/PAH-HOPE) social media or video (https://youtu.be/Um0QEQwiY4A) and has resulted in significant outreach and positive feedback while socializing the benefits of NTP42 for the PAH patient and the overarching ambition of ATXA and PAH-HOPE. Each of these activities and achievements have been made possible by ensuring excellence in Governance and Management of the PAH-HOPE program at ATXA, instigated through effective internal and external communication and reporting structures between all parties be they dedicated staff, scientific or clinical advisors or specialist sub-contractors, as well as putting in place a secure and efficient IT infrastructure.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PAH is a serious clinical diagnosis. Current therapies are failing. What the patient needs is new treatments in the form of oral medications that will modify the course of the disease, preventing or, even better, reversing its progression. Through the achievements of PAH-HOPE, ATXA is on-target to deliver on its promise to the PAH patient by bringing to the market an entirely first-in-class medicinal entity, namely NTP42, that will treat all aspects of PAH and without the side-effects associated with existing medications. As the company achieves this objective of bringing its disruptive innovation to the marketplace, ATXA also intends to be a top-tier pharmaceutical leader in PAH, treating patients across Europe and globally while addressing the large socio-economic burden for the patient and payor. Furthermore, while PAH is a rare or orphan disease, its causes and symptoms occur in several other highly prevalent diseases, many of which are also life threatening and carry heavy socio-economic burdens in Europe and globally. Hence, the possible commercial market and socio-economic impact and benefits of NTP42 as a therapeutic drug to the wider community may far extend beyond that of PAH.

PAH-HOPE Image for Public Summary