#ECTRIMS2019 – Mapi Pharma to Detail Latest Trial Data on GA Depot in Treating RRMS and PPMS
Mapi Pharma will present recent advances in its potential multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies, including GA Depot, at the 35th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) opening this week.
ECTRIMS runs from Wednesday through Friday, Sept. 11–13, in Stockholm.
Among the work disclosed will be updated safety data on once-monthly GA Depot (glatiramer acetate, extended-release) treatment in people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS), as well as from a three-year Phase 2 analysis in RRMS patients. Data on a potential remyelination agent will also be given at the meeting.
GA Depot has ben developed to be a long-acting injectable formulation, administrated once every four weeks. As such, it may represent an alternative to Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection, by Teva Pharmaceuticals), a standard RRMS therapy but one requiring more frequent use. Copaxone is taken either daily or three times a week.
To date, data from Phase 2 studies strongly demonstrate the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of GA Depot in both RRMS and PPMS patients. This has been shown by stable mean Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores for up to three years, suggesting that the treatment has the ability to halt MS disability progression.
These positive results further support GA Depot as a potential advance in MS treatments by significantly reducing the frequency of injections, increasing patient adherence while also providing clear benefits, Mapi stated in a press release.
Based on the initial positive results on PPMS patients, the company is looking for a partner to help it further develop GA Depot for this patient group.
Some GA Depot clinical results will be presented at ECTRIMS 2019 in the electronic poster “Glatiramer acetate depot (extended-release) accumulated safety data in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis & primary progressive multiple sclerosis phase IIa studies” (EP1552). The remaining data will be detailed in the Late Breaking News Poster session on Sep. 13.
Mapi Pharma will also present progress to date in potential new ways of blocking BMP signals, which are known to contribute to the degeneration of the myelin sheath that protects nerve cells. The company’s new BMP inhibitors may represent a new treatment approach for demyelinating diseases such as MS.
This work will be discussed in a poster “Blockage of BMP-2 signaling by neutralizing Ab or small molecule induces remyelination and oligodendrocytes differentiation in cuprizone model of demyelination” (P639) being presented on Sept. 11.
“Mapi is working to be the leading MS company with a long acting GA Depot product for RRMS, a unique product for PPMS, a combination treatment of a depot treatment and stem cells for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), and a novel treatment anti-BMP remyelination agent for MS,” Ehud Marom, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in the release.
