Senhwa Biosciences's Silmitasertib Receives Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from U.S. FDA for Treatment of Recurrent Sonic Hedgehog Medulloblastoma

July 7,2020

Senhwa Biosciences, Inc. (TPEx: 6492), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on Next Generation DNA Damage Response (DDR) therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Rare Pediatric Disease (RPD) Designation for its drug Silmitasertib, a Casein Kinase 2 (CK2) inhibitor, being developed as a treatment for recurrent sonic hedgehog (SHH) medulloblastoma.  With the RPD designation, Senhwa Biosciences is eligible for a Priority Review Voucher (PRV) which can be used for a subsequent marketing application, and may be sold or transferred.  In August 2015, AbbVie bought a PRV from United Therapeutics Corp for $350 million which allowed AbbVie to accelerate one of its drug's FDA review process. 

Medulloblastoma is the most common cancerous brain tumor in children. Treatment for medulloblastoma usually includes surgery, followed by radiation or chemotherapy, or both. Currently there is no targeted drug available. Recurrent SHH medulloblastoma is recognized as one of the four major sub-groups of medulloblastoma, with about 80-100 new cases per year. The FDA grants RPD Designation for serious or life-threatening diseases that primarily affect people from birth to 18 years old and which affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.

Senhwa's clinical partner, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC, www.pbtc.org) is currently conducting a Phase I/II and Surgical study of Silmitasertib, in both children and adults with recurrent SHH medulloblastoma, at its participating member academic medical centers and children's hospitals across the United States. This clinical trial is sponsored by the PBTC and funded through the Consortium grant awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) - Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP).

Silmitasertib is safe and well-tolerated in humans. To date, three Phase I trials of Silmitasertib in cancer patients have been completed; currently, there are one ongoing Phase I and two ongoing Phase II studies of Silmitasertib.