HedgePath Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided further guidance regarding HPPI's ongoing, open-label Phase 2(b) clinical trial studying the effect of SUBA-Itraconazole (SUBA-Cap) oral capsules in patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma Nevus Syndrome (BCCNS), also known as Gorlin Syndrome.
The FDA's guidance came in the form of a written response by FDA to HPPI's Type-C meeting background package. Such a meeting is a standard element of the regulatory review process leading to a potential New Drug Application (NDA) to FDA.
"We are pleased with the FDA's guidance, since we believe it adds clarity to our regulatory and clinical road going forward for the BCCNS indication of SUBA-Cap. FDA confirmed that we may follow the more streamlined 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, which will allow us to reference safety data from previous third-party itraconazole trials, to be supplemented by our own safety database,” Nicholas Virca, President and CEO of HPPI, said. “The acceptability of this combined safety database will then be determined by the FDA during the course of its review of the future NDA. FDA also agreed that no additional nonclinical toxicology studies appear necessary to support filing an NDA for SUBA-Itraconazole under the 505(b)(2) pathway."
BCCNS results from a genetic mutation which causes the Hedgehog pathway (a major regulator of processes in cells) to function improperly, leading to the chronic formation of basal cell tumors, including potentially disfiguring lesions on the face. Industry sources estimate that there are approximately 10,000 patients in the United States with BCCNS, which has qualified SUBA-Itraconazole under the FDA's Orphan Drug Designation Program.