UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event
Reported): February 12, 2015
Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified
in its charter)
|
|
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Florida |
001-33357 |
65-0643773 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) |
(Commission File Number) |
(IRS Employer Identification No.) |
|
|
2 Snunit Street |
20100 |
Science Park, POB 455 |
|
Carmiel, Israel |
|
(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number,
including area code +972-4-988-9488
(Former name or former address, if changed
since last report.)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended
to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction
A.2. below):
¨ |
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
¨ |
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
¨ |
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
¨ |
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Item 8.01. Other Events
On February 12, 2015, Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”)
issued a press release announcing that additional positive interim data from the Company’s
phase I/II dose-ranging clinical trial of PRX-102 for the treatment of Fabry disease
will be presented on February 12, 2015 at 10:45 AM ET at the Lysosomal Disease Network WORLD Symposium in Orlando, FL. A copy of
the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference herein.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits
| 99.1 | Press release dated February 12, 2015 |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
|
PROTALIX BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC. |
|
|
Date: February 12, 2015 |
By: |
/s/ Moshe Manor |
|
Name: |
Moshe Manor |
|
Title: |
President and |
|
|
Chief Executive Officer |
Exhibit 99.1
Protalix
BioTherapeutics Presents Additional Positive Phase I/II Interim Clinical Data
on PRX-102 for Fabry Disease at the WORLD Symposium
New
Positive Clinical Data on Cardiac and Kidney Functions
Detailed
Positive Clinical Data on All Disease Parameters
CARMIEL, Israel, February 12, 2015 -- Protalix
BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT:PLX) (TASE:PLX), announced today that additional positive interim data from the Company’s
phase I/II dose-ranging clinical trial of PRX-102 for the treatment of Fabry disease
will be presented on February 12, 2015 at 10:45 AM ET at the Lysosomal Disease Network WORLD Symposium in Orlando, FL. PRX-102
is a recombinant plant cell expressed, chemically modified version of the human alpha-Galactosidase-A enzyme. A slide presentation
featuring these data will be posted at the time of the presentation on the Company's web site at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=101161&p=irol-presentations.
“The overall efficacy data generated for PRX-102 is remarkable,
especially given the robustness of the different endpoints tested and considering that the data comes from the lowest dosing cohort
of 0.2mg/kg,” commented Dr. Ozlem Goker-Alpan, Director of the Lysosomal Disorders Unit, O&O Alpan LLC, Springfield,
Virginia, USA, and principal investigator in the clinical trial. “It is very impressive to see stability data with favorable
trends in cardiac and renal disease parameters after only six months of treatment. In addition, the safety profile is very favorable,
with what appears to be a relatively low rate of antibody formation and adverse events.”
Dr. Ozlem will be presenting
interim results from the global, open-label, phase I/II dose-ranging trial. In the trial, 18 naïve male and female patients
(11 male and 7 female) were enrolled across three dosing cohorts of 0.2 mg/kg, 1mg/kg and 2mg/kg for which intravenous infusions
were administered every two weeks, with a six-month initial efficacy follow-up period.
Pharmacokinetics
PRX-102 has a significantly
longer circulatory half-life (T½) of approximately 60 hours, and a substantially higher area under the curve (AUC) of approximately
70,000 ng/mL*hour for the 0.2mg/kg dose, when compared to currently marketed enzyme replacement therapies. These enhanced pharmacokinetic
benefits are believed to be the result of the chemical modifications made to PRX-102, including cross-linking and covalent bonding
to make the enzyme a more stable homo-dimer. The table below details the full pharmacokinetic profile of PRX-102.
Dose (mg/kg) |
T½ (hr) |
Tmax (hr) |
Cmax (ng/mL) |
AUC 0-∞ (ng/mL*hr) |
0.2 |
58.63 ±16.08 |
4.40 ±0.56 |
1858 ±531 |
69996 ±25904 |
1 |
73.76 ±10.89 |
5.16 ±1.38 |
10228 ±1812 |
373975 ±35490 |
The interim efficacy analysis
includes 6 patients enrolled in the 0.2mg/kg dose group at six months of treatment (for Gb3 in renal peritubular capillaries n=5).
The interim safety analysis includes 12 patients; 6 patients enrolled in the 0.2mg/kg dose group and 6 patients enrolled in the
1mg/kg dose group.
Clinical Data on
Cardiac and Kidney Functions
The
leading causes for death of Fabry patients include cardiovascular disease and renal failures. All patients that participated in
the trial exhibited stable cardiac and kidney function with favorable trends after only six months of treatment, as measured by
mean left ventricular mass (LVM), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), ejection fraction (EF), estimated Glomerular filtration rate
(eGFR) and urine protein.
The
table below sets forth the mean absolute values, at baseline and after six months of treatment, and including percentage changes,
which were scored in a randomized blinded manner.
Timeframe |
LVM (gr) |
LVMI (gr/m2) |
EF (%) |
eGRF (mL/min/1.73m2) |
Urine Protein (mg/g creatinine) |
Baseline |
98.0 |
55.1 |
55.1 |
109.1 |
186.3 |
6 Months |
94.4 |
52.7 |
55.8 |
115.8 |
167.8 |
Detailed Clinical
Data on All Other Disease Parameters
Based
on an analysis of kidney biopsies with randomized blinded scoring, PRX-102 demonstrated a major reduction from baseline in renal
peritubular capillary Gb3 using both the quantitative Barisoni Lipid Inclusion Scoring System (BLISS) and the semi quantitative
method. Using the BLISS method, a reduction in the rate of 82.2% for males, 65.4% for females and 75.5% for males and females combined
were observed. Absolute change from baseline was -4.5, -1.2 and -3.2, respectively. Applying the semi quantitative scoring method,
commonly used by approved enzyme replacement therapies, PRX-102 demonstrated a reduction of 69.6% in abnormal capillary score.
Patient Data for
BLISS Score Analysis
Patient |
Absolute Change from Baseline |
Percentage Change from Baseline |
F101 (F) |
-2.0 |
-76.9 |
F102 (F) |
-0.4 |
-52.9 |
F103 (M) |
-3.0 |
-91.7 |
F104 (M) |
-5.3 |
-86.2 |
F106 (M) |
-5.3 |
-69.5 |
Using
the well-accepted Brief Pain Inventory scale, a 100% reduction in pain at its worst, a 60.0% reduction in mean severity, and 78.8%
reduction on mean interference (which includes walking, working, sleeping, enjoyment of life and others) were observed. In addition
to a 100% reduction in worst pain, all patients also reported a 100% reduction in mean interference, with the exception of one
patient who experienced a 33.3% reduction.
Reductions
of plasma Lyso-Gb3 and plasma Gb3 concentrations were also observed. Females (n=2) demonstrated a -2.4 ng/mL mean change in Lyso-Gb3
and a -0.4 µg/mL mean change in plasma Gb3. Males (n=4) demonstrated a -96.2 ng/mL and a -1.3 µg/mL change, respectively.
All patients demonstrated a reduction in absolute Lyso-Gb3 concentration and all patients demonstrated a reduction in Gb3 except
for one patient.
A
meaningful reduction in the total score of Mainz Severity Score Index (MSSI), which looks at general, neurological, cardiovascular
and renal parameters, was also demonstrated, with a reduction in all parameters included in MSSI.
The
safety analysis for adverse events represents a total of 6.7 patient years (n=12). PRX-102 was well tolerated, with the majority
of events being mild and moderate. Only 1 of the 12 patients evaluated for safety experienced hypersensitivity and discontinued
per protocol. For this patient, anti PRX-102 IgG was negative and anti PRX-102 IgE was positive at baseline.
Six
patients receiving the 0.2mg/kg dose and 2 patients receiving the 1mg/kg dose were evaluated for anti-drug antibody formation after
six and three months of treatment, respectively. Of these 8 patients, only 2 patients, both in the 0.2 mg/kg dose cohort,
developed anti-drug antibodies. All adverse events experienced by these patients were deemed by the investigators to be unrelated
to the drug.
Enrollment
in the phase I/II clinical trial of PRX-102 was completed in early February. All patients that completed the trial opted to continue
to receive PRX-102 in an open-label extension study. The Company expects to report interim results from the 1mg/kg cohort in the
third quarter of 2015, and full top-line results from all dosing cohorts in the fourth quarter of 2015.
About Protalix BioTherapeutics,
Inc.
Protalix
is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins expressed through
its proprietary plant cell-based expression system, ProCellEx®. Protalix's unique expression system presents a proprietary
method for developing recombinant proteins in a cost-effective, industrial-scale manner. Protalix's first product manufactured
by ProCellEx, taliglucerase alfa, was approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2012,
by Israel's Ministry of Health in September 2012, by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA)
in March 2013, by the Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) in April 2013,
by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration(TGA) in May 2014 and by the regulatory authorities of other countries. Marketing
applications for taliglucerase alfa have been filed in additional territories as well. Protalix has partnered with Pfizer
Inc. for the worldwide development and commercialization of taliglucerase alfa, excluding Israel and Brazil, where
Protalix retains full rights. Protalix's development pipeline includes the following product candidates: PRX-102, a modified
version of the recombinant human alpha-GAL-A protein for the treatment of Fabry disease; PRX-112, an orally-delivered glucocerebrosidase
enzyme that is produced and encapsulated within carrot cells, also for the treatment of Gaucher disease; PRX-106, an orally-delivered
treatment for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease; PRX-110 for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis; and others.
Forward-Looking Statements
To
the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, all such statements are forward-looking, and are
made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The terms "anticipate,"
"believe," "estimate," "expect," "plan" and "intend" and other words or phrases
of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known
and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results to differ materially from the statements
made. These statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations as to such future outcomes. Drug discovery and
development involve a high degree of risk. Factors that might cause material differences include, among others: failure or
delay in the commencement or completion of our preclinical and clinical trials which may be caused by several factors, including:
unforeseen safety issues; determination of dosing issues; lack of effectiveness during clinical trials; slower than expected rates
of patient recruitment; inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment; inability or unwillingness of medical
investigators and institutional review boards to follow our clinical protocols; and lack of sufficient funding to finance clinical
trials; the risk that the results of the clinical trials of our product candidates will not support our claims of safety or efficacy,
that our product candidates will not have the desired effects or will be associated with undesirable side effects or other unexpected
characteristics; our dependence on performance by third party providers of services and supplies, including without limitation,
clinical trial services; delays in our preparation and filing of applications for regulatory approval; delays in the approval or
potential rejection of any applications we file with the FDA or other health regulatory authorities, and other risks
relating to the review process; the inherent risks and uncertainties in developing drug platforms and products of the type we are
developing; the impact of development of competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies and institutions; potential
product liability risks, and risks of securing adequate levels of product liability and other necessary insurance coverage; and
other factors described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The statements in this release
are valid only as of the date hereof and we disclaim any obligation to update this information.
Investor
Contact
Marcy
Nanus
The
Trout Group, LLC
646-378-2927
mnanus@troutgroup.com
Source: Protalix
BioTherapeutics, Inc.
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