Benzinga | Jul 28, 2020 08:05AM EDT

Larimar Therapeutics Announces Positive Opinion On Orphan Drug Designation Received From European Medicines Agency For CTI-1601 For The Treatment Of Friedreich's Ataxia

BALA CYNWYD, Pa., July 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Larimar Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LRMR), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for complex rare diseases, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) issued a positive opinion on the company's application for orphan drug designation for CTI-1601, a potential treatment for Friedreich's ataxia (FA), a rare, progressive, multi-symptom genetic disease that affects the functioning of multiple organs and systems. CTI-1601 is a recombinant fusion protein intended to deliver human frataxin into the mitochondria of patients with FA who are unable to produce enough of this essential protein. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously granted Orphan Drug, Fast Track and Rare Pediatric Disease designations to CTI-1601 for the treatment of FA. Larimar expects that the European Commission, based on this positive opinion of the COMP, will formally grant the orphan drug designation for the European Union (EU) this year.

"The positive opinion for orphan drug designation from the EMA COMP is an important milestone to bring a much-needed potential therapy to patients with FA, a devastating disease that currently has no approved medical treatments," said Carole Ben-Maimon, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Larimar Therapeutics. "We look forward to working closely with EMA and continuing our U.S. Phase 1 trial of CTI-1601, which has the potential to become the first frataxin replacement therapy for patients with FA. We remain on track to report topline data in the first half of 2021."

Orphan drug designation in the EU is granted by the European Commission based on a positive opinion issued by the EMA COMP. To qualify, an investigational medicine must be intended to treat a seriously debilitating or life-threatening condition that affects fewer than five in 10,000 people in the EU, and there must be sufficient non-clinical or clinical data to suggest the investigational medicine may produce clinically relevant outcomes. EMA orphan drug designation provides companies with certain benefits and incentives, including clinical protocol assistance, differentiated evaluation procedures for Health Technology Assessments in certain countries, access to a centralized marketing authorization procedure valid in all EU member states, reduced regulatory fees and 10 years of market exclusivity.