CASI Pharma's ENMD-2076 Gets Orphan Drug Designation To Treat HCC - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CASI), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, Monday announced that its orally-active, Aurora A/angiogenic kinase inhibitor, ENMD-2076, has received Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or FDA for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC.

The company noted that ENMD-2076 has been shown to inhibit a distinct profile of angiogenic tyrosine kinase targets in addition to the Aurora A kinase. Aurora kinases are key regulators of mitosis (cell division), and are often over-expressed in human cancers.

Orphan Drug designation is granted to therapeutics treating rare diseases affecting less than 200,000 people in the U.S. The designation entitles the sponsor to seven years of market exclusivity as well as opportunities for additional funding and expert protocol assistance.

Ken Ren, Chief Executive Officer of CASI, said, "We are pleased with the Orphan Drug designation as it confirms our belief in the versatility of ENMD-2076 as a promising treatment for HCC, and for other tumor types that we are currently evaluating in the clinic. Orphan drug status also enhances the commercial value of ENMD-2076 to treat HCC, a disease which is difficult to treat. We are finalizing our next steps for ENMD-2076 in HCC and/or in fibrolamellar carcinoma, a subset of HCC and for which there is no treatment available and look forward to advancing our overall development plan for ENMD-2076."