Benzinga | Feb 18, 2021 09:22AM EST

CNS Pharma, WPD Pharma Report WPD Received Positive Opinion Of Lower Silesian Medical Chamber Ethics Committee In Poland For Its Planned Upcoming Berubicin Trial For Adults With Glioblastoma

WPD Pharmaceuticals (CSE:WBIO) (8SV1.F) ("WPD") and CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSP) ("CNS" or the "Company"), biopharmaceutical companies specializing in the development of novel treatments for primary and metastatic cancers of the brain and central nervous system, today announced that WPD Pharmaceuticals received a positive opinion of the Lower Silesian Medical Chamber Ethics Committee in Wrocaw, Poland for its planned upcoming Berubicin clinical trial in adults with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) under the WPD-201 Clinical Trial Protocol. CNS Pharmaceuticals has received study level Central IRB Approval from the Central IRB for the CNS-201 Clinical Trial Protocol.

Berubicin is the Company's novel anthracycline candidate for the treatment of a number of serious oncology indications, currently in development for the treatment of GBM. CNS entered into a sublicense agreement with WPD in November 2019, which provided WPD the commercial rights in select territories in Europe and Asia to Berubicin.

Mariusz Olejniczak, CEO of WPD comments, "This is an important step for WPD from both a project and sublicense agreement point of view. After receiving the positive opinion from the Central Ethics Committee, we are planning to submit our application to the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products, which is the Polish equivalent of the FDA. We hope to receive approval within three months from submission, dependent on if we receive any questions or requests from the President of the Office. We are planning for our sites to start recruiting patients soon after approval is received. Information about our sites will be published both on clinicaltrials.gov and in the European database. During the review process, we will start preparing submissions to Ethic Committee and Competent Authority (equivalent of FDA) in one country outside of Poland."

"We are pleased for WPD to achieve this key milestone and are encouraged by their continued execution in furthering the development of Berubicin," commented John Climaco, CEO of CNS Pharmaceuticals. "Importantly, we believe WPD's Ethics Committee approval of the WPD-201 Clinical Trial Protocol coupled with our recent IND approval and Central IRB Study Level approval, position us one step closer to collaboratively initiating three clinical trials for Berubicin during 2021. We look forward to continuing our trial preparations, as well as WPD's planned submissions to the Polish Competent Authority."

Following the sublicense agreement, WPD was subsequently awarded a reimbursement grant for further development of Berubicin that was valued at $6 million upon the date of the grant from the Polish National Center for Research and Development under Smart Growth Operational Program 2014-2020 co-financed by the European Union. WPD plans to initiate both a multicenter Berubicin Phase 2 adult GBM trial in the first half of 2021 and a multicenter pediatric malignant glioma Phase 1 clinical trial in 2021. Roughly 60% of the program budget is expected to be funded by the reimbursement grant.

CNS Pharmaceuticals has received approval to proceed with their previously submitted Investigational New Drug (IND), from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Berubicin in the treatment of GBM. The Company plans to initiate its Phase 2 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Berubicin in the treatment of adults with GBM who have failed first-line therapy in the first quarter of 2021. The Company has also received Central IRB study level approval for the U.S. portion of the adult GBM study.