BERLIN, GERMANY, September 18, 2023 – OMEICOS, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics based on the profound understanding of omega-3 fatty acid metabolism and physiology, today provided a positive update on the Company’s multi-center, open-label Phase 2a clinical study evaluating its most advanced development program OMT-28 in Primary Mitochondrial Disease (PMD) patients. The PMD-OPTION study, which has begun to enroll patients in the first observational part of the trial, will evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamics, and signs of efficacy of OMT-28 in PMD patients with myopathy and/or cardiomyopathy and inflammation.
“We are thrilled to announce that the first patients are being enrolled in the study at clinical centers in Italy and Germany. We thank all involved investigators supporting us in our ambitious way forward to bring a novel, first-in-class therapeutic strategy closer to the PMD patient community,” commented Dr. Robert Fischer, CEO/CSO of OMEICOS Therapeutics. “The start of the PMD-OPTION study marks a major milestone in OMEICOS’ strategy to tackle diseases associated with impaired function of the mitochondria. OMT-28 has shown the potential to target a key regulator network for cell metabolism and mitochondrial function, which could translate into benefits for PMD patients and improve their quality of life.”
PMD patients suffer from debilitating and life-threatening health consequences, such as severely limited physical stamina and disease-related changes in the heart and skeletal muscles, as well as associated neurological disorders. In preclinical in vitro and in vivo tests, the positive influence of OMT-28 on mitochondrial function and its impact on inflammatory processes associated with the condition has been demonstrated.
The PMD-OPTION study will recruit up to 32 patients with documented mutations in either mitochondrial tRNA, e.g. MELAS and MERFF mutations, or mtDNA resulting in mitochondrial disease and are suffering from myopathy (muscle weakness and/or exercise intolerance) and/or cardiomyopathy (heart disease). The study design features a 12-week untreated run-in phase, capturing the patients’ natural history and baseline parameters. Subsequently, all patients will receive a 24 mg once-daily dose of OMT-28 for a treatment period of up to 24 weeks. The primary endpoints of the PMD-OPTION study are safety and tolerability of OMT-28, and the response rate of patients showing a reduction of Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) levels by at least 20% compared to the recorded baseline. The cytokine GDF-15 is produced in response to mitochondrial stress, tissue damage or hypoxia, and is emerging as a key biomarker to detect mitochondrial myopathies and distinguish such cases from other myopathies, including metabolic myopathies. The study will also evaluate a range of secondary and exploratory endpoints to determine the effect of OMT-28 on clinical symptoms, standard functional parameters of physical strength, heart function, quality of life, and key metabolic plasma biomarkers.
More information on the PMD-OPTION study can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov.
About OMEICOS
OMEICOS Therapeutics has discovered a series of metabolically robust synthetic analogues of omega-3 fatty acid-derived epoxyeicosanoids that have the potential to treat mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammatory, cardiovascular and other diseases. Epoxyeicosanoids activate cell type-specific endogenous pathways that promote organ and tissue protection. OMEICOS’ small molecules are orally available and show improved biological activity and pharmacokinetic properties compared to their natural counterparts. For more, please visit: www.omeicos.com
Contacts
OMEICOS Therapeutics GmbH
Dr. Robert Fischer, CEO, CSO
Phone: +49 (0) 30 9489 4810
E-Mail: r.fischer@omeicos.com
www.omeicos.com
Media requests
Valency Communications
Mario Brkulj
Phone: +49 (0) 160 93529951
E-Mail: mbrkulj@valencycomms.eu
* This project receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under
the “KMU-innovativ: Biomedizin” program
