Dompe announces the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to its rhNGF-based treatment for neurotrophic keratitis
Dompe announces that rhNGF (Recombinant Human Nerve Growth Factor) has been designated as an orphan drug by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The candidate drug, developed by the research of Dompe, has been designated as an orphan drug for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis, a degenerative corneal disease that affects less than 1 in 5,000 people and is currently without a cure.
This acknowledgment represents an important step in the clinical development of the drug, which is currently in advanced stages of experimentation for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis in the REPARO study. The randomized, double-blind study includes 39 centers in 9 European countries (Italy, Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary) and involves patients suffering from unilateral neurotrophic keratitis with grade 2 lesions (persistent epithelial defect) or grade 3 lesions (corneal ulcers) that do not respond to the currently available medical treatment. The objective of the trial is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of two different doses of recombinant human nerve growth factor (rhNGF) compared to the placebo. The more than 170 patients enrolled in the study are divided into three different groups, treated respectively with two different doses of rhNGF and with the placebo. The secondary objectives include the evaluation of corneal lesion healing, improvement in visual acuity, and the sensitivity of the cornea.
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