Cerecor Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leader in development and commercialization of treatments for rare and orphan diseases, announced that the U.S. FDA has granted Fast Track designation to CERC-002 for treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. CERC-002 is a first-in-class fully human monoclonal antibody targeting LIGHT.
Fast Track designation is granted to drugs being developed for the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions where there is an unmet medical need. The purpose of the provision is to help facilitate development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious or life- threatening conditions so that an approved product can reach the market expeditiously. Sponsors of drugs that receive Fast Track designation have the opportunity for more frequent interactions with the FDA review team throughout the development program. Under Fast Track designation, a Biologic License Application (BLA) for CERC-002 is eligible for both rolling submission and priority review.1 CERC-002 (anti-LIGHT monoclonal antibody)
CERC-002 is a fully human anti-LIGHT or tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14) monoclonal antibody licensed from Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. It is the only clinical stage anti-LIGHT therapy and has the potential to treat a number of LIGHT-associated immune diseases including cytokine storm-induced COVID-19 ARDS. It is currently in development for pediatric onset Crohn’s disease and cytokine storm induced COVID-19 ARDS. Cerecor has also developed a validated, high sensitivity serum/plasma free LIGHT assay in collaboration with Myriad RBM.
Role of LIGHT in Acute Inflammatory Response
LIGHT (homologous to Lymphotoxin, exhibits inducible expression and competes with HSV glycoprotein D for binding to herpesvirus entry mediator, a receptor expressed on T lymphocytes) is a cytokine with inflammatory actions encoded by the TNFSF14 gene. LIGHT plays an important role in regulating immune responses in the lung, gut and skin. It stimulates T Cell and B Cell response as well as induces the release of other cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF and GM-CSF. Therefore, LIGHT potentially plays a key role in immune responses to viral pneumonia and other diseases.
About Cerecor
Cerecor is a biopharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of treatments for rare and orphan diseases. The company is advancing its clinical-stage pipeline of innovative therapies that address unmet patient needs within rare and orphan diseases. The company’s rare disease pipeline includes CERC-801, CERC-802 and CERC-803, which are in development for congenital disorders of glycosylation and CERC-006, an oral mTORc1/c2 inhibitor in development for the treatment of complex lymphatic malformations. The company is also developing two monoclonal antibodies, CERC-002, and CERC-007. CERC-002 targets the cytokine LIGHT (TNFSF14) and is in clinical development for treatment of severe pediatric-onset Crohn’s disease, and COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome. CERC-007 targets the cytokine IL-18 and is in clinical development for the treatment of Still’s disease (adult onset Still’s disease (AOSD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA)), and multiple myeloma (MM). CERC-006, 801, 802 and 803 have all received Orphan Drug Designation and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation, which makes all four eligible for a priority review voucher upon FDA approval.
