SAN DIEGO, Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for Halozyme's program investigating PEGPH20 (PEGylated recombinant human hyaluronidase) in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer to demonstrate an improvement in overall survival. The Fast Track designation process was developed by the FDA to facilitate the development, and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious or life-threatening diseases and address unmet medical needs.
"The FDA's Fast Track designation for our PEGPH20 program in pancreatic cancer underscores the significant need for new treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients with advanced disease," stated Dr. Helen Torley, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to continuing to work with the FDA on this program to explore whether patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer can benefit from this therapy."
The Fast Track Drug Development Program was established under the FDA Modernization Act of 1997. The program is designed to facilitate frequent interactions with the FDA review team to expedite clinical development and submission of a Biologic License Application (BLA) for medicines with the potential to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and address unmet medical needs. Specifically, Fast Track designation facilitates meetings to discuss all aspects of development to support approval. It also provides the opportunity to submit sections of a BLA on a rolling basis as data become available. This permits the FDA to review portions of the BLA as they are received instead of waiting for the entire BLA submission.
About Halozyme
Halozyme Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative products that advance patient care. With a diversified portfolio of enzymes that target the extracellular matrix, the Company's research focuses primarily on a family of human enzymes, known as hyaluronidases, which increase the dispersion and absorption of biologics, drugs and fluids. Halozyme's pipeline addresses therapeutic areas, including oncology, diabetes and dermatology that have significant unmet medical need today. The Company markets Hylenex® recombinant (hyaluronidase human injection) and has partnerships with Roche, Pfizer and Baxter. Halozyme is headquartered in San Diego, CA. For more information on how we are innovating, please visit our corporate website at www.halozyme.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
In addition to historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements (including, without limitation, statements concerning future actions relating to the development of PEGPH20 and the possibility that PEGPH20 may be used to address pancreatic cancer) that involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified through use of the words "believe," "enable," "may," "will," "could," "intends," "estimate," "anticipate," "plan," "predict," "probable," "potential," "possible," "should," "continue," and other words of similar meaning. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations contained in forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including delays in completion of clinical trials and other development activities, the possibility of safety events, unexpected expenditures and costs, unexpected results or delays in regulatory review, regulatory approval requirements, unexpected adverse events and competitive conditions. These and other factors that may result in differences are discussed in greater detail in Halozyme's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 11, 2014.
Investor Contact:
Schond Greenway
Halozyme Therapeutics
858-704-8352
ir@halozyme.com
Media Contact:
Susan Neath Francis
212-301-7182
sfrancis@wcgworld.com
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SOURCE Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.