InflaRx N.V., a German company developing anti-inflammatory therapeutics by targeting the complement system, has announced that Gohibic (vilobelimab) has been granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adults.
Vilobelimab is a first-in-class monoclonal anti-human complement factor C5a antibody that acts on the immune system and not the virus.
Niels C. Riedemann, CEO and founder of InflaRx, said: “We are thrilled and very proud that the FDA has issued an EUA for vilobelimab to treat this very sick patient group, recognizing the lifesaving potential of this first-in-class drug. Despite the availability of vaccines and other treatments for earlier disease stages of COVID-19, many patients are still developing viral sepsis and are progressing to critical status, which often requires invasive mechanical ventilation.
“As a consequence, we continue to see mortality rates in the range of approximately 2,000 COVID-19-reported deaths per week in the U.S. as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today’s announcement brings new hope to these patients and their loved ones, and we will work diligently to make this important new treatment available to patients as rapidly as possible.”
The data supporting the EUA were based on the previously announced results of the multicenter phase III PANAMO trial, which showed Gohibic treatment reduced mortality by 23.9% compared to placebo.
InflaRx applied for the authorization last July.
InflaRx developing Gohibic for other conditions
InflaRx said it is continuing discussions with the FDA related to full approval of Gohibic in this COVID-19 indication. InflaRx said it has also completed encouraging meetings with the rapporteur and co-rapporteur teams of the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) related to a planned Marketing Authorization Application with the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
In addition, InflaRx is continuing to develop vilobelimab in other indications, including pyoderma gangrenosum, for which the company is currently initiating a phase III trial.
Renfeng Guo, chief scientific officer and founder of InflaRx, said: “This EUA is a great recognition of our COVID-19-related research, which was based on over two decades of groundbreaking work on the tissue and organ-damaging effect of the complement factor C5a as part of the body’s immune response. InflaRx will evaluate broadening our development of vilobelimab in other areas of viral lung injury and viral sepsis where the mechanism has already been researched in pre-clinical models. Our COVID-19 results underscore the anti-inflammatory potential of inhibition of the terminal C5a and C5a receptor pathway in other inflammatory diseases.”
Gohibic has not been approved, but has been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an EUA, for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adults when initiated within 48 hours of receiving IMV, or ECMO.
The emergency use of GOHIBIC is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biological products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About vilobelimab
Vilobelimab is a first-in-class monoclonal anti-human complement factor C5a antibody, which blocks the biological activity of C5a and demonstrates high selectivity towards its target in human blood. Thus, vilobelimab leaves the formation of the membrane attack complex (C5b-9) intact as an important defense mechanism of the innate immune system, which is not the case for molecules blocking C5.
In pre-clinical studies, vilobelimab has been shown to control the inflammatory response driven tissue and organ damage by specifically blocking C5a as a key “amplifier” of this response. In addition to development in COVID-19, vilobelimab is also being developed for various debilitating or life-threatening inflammatory indications, including pyoderma gangrenosum and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.