Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the U.S. FDA acceptance for filing the company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for the use of ganaxolone in the treatment of seizures associated with CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD), a rare, genetic epilepsy. The NDA was granted Priority Review designation and the FDA assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of March 20, 2022. Priority Review designation is given to an investigational medicine that, if approved, would be a significant improvement in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment of a serious condition and accelerates the timing of the FDA review of the application compared to a standard review.
“The FDA’s acceptance of our NDA submission is an important step toward potentially bringing the first approved therapy specifically for treatment of seizures associated with CDD—a devastating disorder with high unmet medical need—to families and healthcare providers,” said Scott Braunstein, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Marinus Pharmaceuticals. “We believe that ganaxolone has the potential to provide meaningful clinical benefit for patients and we look forward to working closely with the FDA during the review process.”
Ganaxolone received orphan drug designation and Rare Pediatric Disease (RPD) designation for CDD in June 2017 and July 2020, respectively. If the NDA is approved, Marinus is eligible to receive a RPD Priority Review Voucher that may be sold or transferred.
In its acceptance letter, the FDA indicated that it is not currently planning to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss the application.
The acceptance of the NDA for filing enables the company to draw $30 million of additional cash under its May 11, 2021 credit financing agreement with Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions described in the credit agreement. If the NDA is approved by December 31, 2022, the company may draw an additional $30 million under the agreement, subject to the satisfaction of certain customary conditions described in the credit agreement.
The NDA is supported by data from the Marigold study, a Phase 3, double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 101 patients. Patients treated with ganaxolone showed a 30.7% median reduction in 28-day major motor seizure frequency, compared to a 6.9% reduction for those receiving placebo, achieving the trial’s primary endpoint (p=0.0036). Patients in the open-label extension study treated with ganaxolone for at least 12 months (n=48) experienced a median 49.6% reduction in major motor seizure frequency. In the Marigold trial, ganaxolone was generally well-tolerated and showed a safety profile consistent with previous clinical trials, with the most frequent adverse event being somnolence.
Marinus has established an Expanded Access Program (EAP) (NCT04678479) for patients in the U.S. who may be eligible to receive access to ganaxolone during the review of the NDA. Additional information about Marinus’ EAP is available here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganaxolone
