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Clinical Trials

Date: 2015-09-01

Type of information: Presentation of results at a congress

phase:

Announcement: presentation of results at the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (SSIEM) Annual Symposium in Lyon, France.

Company: Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (USA - CA)

Product: triheptanoin (UX007)

Action mechanism:

  • triglyceride.Triheptanoin is a purified, pharmaceutical-grade, specially designed synthetic triglyceride compound created via a multi-step chemical process. Triheptanoin is metabolized to and intended to provide patients with heptanoate, which can diffuse across the blood-brain barrier and be converted into glucose. Heptanoate can also be further metabolized to four- and five-carbon ketone bodies in the liver that also cross the blood-brain-barrier and provide an additional energy source to the brain. Heptanoate and five-carbon ketone bodies can also regenerate new glucose in the brain, which is deficient in these patients.
  • The European Commission has granted orphan medicinal product designation for triheptanoin for the treatment of Very Long-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency, and for the treatment of three other subtypes of LC-FAOD: Long-Chain 3-Hydroxyacyl-CoA Dehydrogenase (LCHAD) deficiency, Trifunctional Protein (TFP) deficiency, and Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase II (CPT-II) deficiency. These four subtypes are estimated to represent more than 90% of the patients born with LC-FAOD each year.

Disease: cardiomyopathy due to long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders (LC-FAOD)

Therapeutic area: Rare diseases - Cardiovascular diseases

Country:

Trial details:

Latest news:

  • • On September 1, 2015, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases, announced the presentation of open-label data from five infants with cardiomyopathy due to long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders (LC-FAOD) treated with triheptanoin (UX007). Severely affected LC-FAOD patients can present early in life with severe cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, heart failure, hypoglycemia, hepatic dysfunction, and rhabdomyolysis that can lead to death. The data were presented at the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (SSIEM) Annual Symposium in Lyon, France. Case reports from five infant patients with moderate or severe cardiomyopathy due to LC-FAOD were presented. All patients were detected by newborn screening and managed with standard treatment, including medium-chain triglyceride oil. While on the standard of care, the patients were hospitalized with heart failure that required cardiac support (ventilation, ECMO, vasopressors) and, in some cases, resuscitation. The patients discontinued medium-chain triglyceride oil and then began to receive triheptanoin on an expanded access basis. All patients demonstrated an improvement in ejection fraction (EF), a measure of cardiac function evaluated by echocardiogram, after treatment with triheptanoin. The improvements in EF began between two days and three weeks following initiation of treatment with triheptanoin and were associated with stabilization of the clinical signs of cardiomyopathy in these patients. Additionally, EF continued to improve or was maintained with further treatment. In patients with known EF values before and after treatment (n=4) the mean EF prior to triheptanoin was 32% (range: 21% to 44%) and after treatment at last assessment was 66% (range: 55% to 71%).
  • The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal distress, including loose stools. One patient discontinued treatment after approximately 14 weeks due to gastrointestinal symptoms. No other significant tolerance issues or treatment-related adverse events were reported. Four of the patients continue to receive triheptanoin. These data are from an expanded access program and are based on open-label uncontrolled treatment, which limits definitive conclusions about efficacy and safety. Ultragenyx is conducting a separate Phase 2 study of triheptanoin in patients with LC-FAOD. The musculoskeletal and liver manifestations of the disease represent the most prevalent symptoms in the patients enrolled in the Phase 2 study. Data from the study are expected by the end of 2015.

Is general: Yes