Despite progress in Duchenne, there remains a significant unmet need for therapeutics that meaningfully
impact disease progression. These data demonstrate a promising continuum from dystrophin restoration, to regeneration and maturation of muscle tissue, to functional improvement, said Pat Furlong, founder and president of Parent Project
Muscular Dystrophy. Paired with monthly administration and a continued favorable safety profile, WVE-N531 represents a significant step forward not just for individuals amenable to exon 53
skipping, but also for the broader exon skipping field. PPMD looks forward to working with Wave as they expediently bring WVE-N531 and their broader exon skipping pipeline to the Duchenne community.
As a clinician deeply involved in patient care and research in muscle diseases like Duchenne, I am encouraged by these data for WVE-N531 that show dystrophin restoration and several markers of improved muscle condition, said Laurent Servais, MD, PhD, Professor of Paediatric Neuromuscular Disease at the University of Oxford and
Principal Investigator in FORWARD-53. To see a clinically meaningful and statistically significant difference on TTR versus natural history in a Phase 2 study is another encouraging finding. I am looking
forward to the continued development of WVE-N531.
Wave also announced today that the company met with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on WVE-N531 to discuss its interim 24-week data and initial plans for the confirmatory trial, where the Agency confirmed that the
accelerated approval pathway using dystrophin expression as a surrogate endpoint remains open. Based on the FDA feedback and the 48-week data, Wave intends to file a New Drug Application (NDA) in 2026 for
accelerated approval of WVE-N531. The NDA filing will be based on all FORWARD-53 data, which will include additional data to support monthly dosing. Furthermore, Wave
will continue to engage the Agency with the new 48-week data, including functional outcomes, and its planned global confirmatory trial of WVE-N531.
WVE-N531s demonstrated ability to reach both myofibers and myogenic stem cells the regenerative
muscle cells and sustain dystrophin restoration over time is impacting muscle health in ways never before seen in DMD, said Paul Bolno, MD, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer at Wave Life Sciences. With these
transformational data and feedback from FDA in hand, we are now moving toward our first NDA filing, which puts us on the path toward becoming a commercial company.
Continued Dr. Bolno, Most importantly, we are inspired by the opportunity ahead to deliver life-changing medicines to this community. We expect WVE-N531 to become the first-line treatment of choice for boys amenable to exon 53 skipping, including the 40-50% in the US who are not being treated with approved exon
skippers due in part to the burden of weekly infusions coupled with limited efficacy. Additionally, we are accelerating our near-term clinical programs for other exons, which based on preclinical data, suggest a best-in-class exon skipping franchise. We are incredibly grateful to the trial participants and their families, as well as all our collaborators across the DMD community for their contributions to this
program and all our DMD research over the past decade.
WVE-N531, as well as Waves programs for exons
52, 51, 45 and 44, leverage best-in-class oligonucleotide chemistry, including PN backbone chemistry and stereochemical control, enabling industry-leading muscle
delivery and potency without requiring antibody or peptide conjugates. Preclinical data for Waves PN chemistry-containing exon skipping candidates have also demonstrated significantly higher dystrophin and drug concentrations in the heart and
diaphragm versus skeletal muscle. Collectively, WVE-N531 plus Waves exon 52, 51, 45 and 44 programs would address ~40% of the DMD population and represent a >$2.4 billion total market opportunity
in the United States alone. Wave expects to submit multiple clinical trial applications (CTAs) for other exon skipping programs in 2026.