Benzinga | Mar 8, 2021 08:10AM EST

Sesen Bio Submits Marketing Authorization Application To European Medicines Agency For Vicineum

Follows U.S. FDA acceptance of the Biologics License Application under Priority Review

Potential approval in Europe anticipated in early 2022

Significant commercial opportunity in Europe with projected peak revenue of $450M-$1.1B

Sesen Bio (NASDAQ:SESN), a late-stage clinical company developing targeted fusion protein therapeutics for the treatment of patients with cancer, announced that on Friday, March 5, 2021 the Company submitted its Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Vicineum1 for the treatment of high-risk, BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) under the EMA's centralized procedure.

The MAA is supported by the pivotal Phase 3 VISTA trial data, which the Company believes demonstrates a strong risk-benefit profile. In addition, the Company believes the chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) data confirms the analytical comparability between clinical and commercial supply.

"Europe represents one of the largest regions in terms of unmet need for patients with NMIBC," said Dr. Thomas Cannell, president and chief executive officer of SesenBio. "The submission of the MAA in Europe marks an important milestone as we continue toward the goal of making this potential best-in-class treatment available to patients globally. I would like to thank the Sesen Bio team and our regulatory partners for their execution excellence and tireless dedication to help save and improve the lives of the patients we serve. We will continue working collaboratively with the EMA to move Vicineum through the regulatory process as expeditiously as possible."

In Europe, bladder cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer with about 124,000 new cases per year, and it ranks ninth in cause of death with approximately 40,000 deaths per year. Approximately 80% of these patients are diagnosed with NMIBC, of which many will initially be treated with BCG and at least 50% of patients will experience disease recurrence. If BCG is not effective or a patient can no longer receive BCG, the recommended treatment option is radical cystectomy, the complete removal of the bladder. If approved in Europe, Vicineum would be the first product approved for patients with high-risk, BCG-unresponsive NMIBC in over 20 years.

1The proprietary brand name, Vicineum is a corporate trademark which has been conditionally approved by the FDA. Final approval of the Vicineum brand name is conditional on FDA approval of the Company's product candidate, oportuzumab monatox. Sesen Bio is currently going through the tradename approval process with the EMA for oportuzumab monatox.