Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. is the new name of KemPharm, Inc., reflecting the company's renewed focus on developing transformational therapies for rare diseases with limited or no treatment options. The name change, which is scheduled to take effect on or about March 1, 2023, will coincide with the company's new ticker symbol "ZVRA" on The Nasdaq Global Market. According to Richard W. Pascoe, CEO of Zevra, the adoption of the name Zevra is an important step in their journey to become a leading rare disease company, as the zebra is the recognized symbol of the rare disease community worldwide.
Zevra recently acquired arimoclomol, a first-in-class investigational product candidate for the treatment of Niemann-Pick type C disease from Orphazyme A/S. The acquisition allowed the company to maintain early access programs and relationships with treatment centers in the US and Europe and build on longstanding partnerships within the NPC patient community. In addition to arimoclomol, Zevra is advancing KP1077, a product candidate based on Zevra's prodrug of d-methylphenidate, serdexmethylphenidate, which is being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, a rare sleep disorder. Pending the results from that trial, the company plans to conduct a pivotal Phase 3 study in IH, with the potential to study an expanded indication in narcolepsy.
Zevra's Chairman of the Board, Matthew R. Plooster, emphasized the urgency of delivering treatments for rare diseases and the company's commitment to leveraging its deep scientific and clinical expertise to overcome drug development and regulatory barriers.
Zevra looks forward to several key milestones in 2023, including the resubmission of arimoclomol's New Drug Application to the FDA in Q3 2023, interim and final data readouts for KP1077 in IH, and the potential achievement of certain commercial sales milestones for its partnered asset, AZSTARYS®.
Along with the new name, Zevra also unveiled a new logo and website.
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