TRND (Therapies for Rare and Neglected Diseases) and the NIH team met with FDA representatives on December 13th to discuss the progressive plans to bring Cyclodextrin to a clinical trial in 2012. For TRND, Niemann-Pick Type C is one of six pilot projects that were selected.
The NNPDF does a wonderful job of keeping families and people interested up to date on how things are progressing in the disease community for Niemann-Pick Type C. You can visit updates on their page here: http://www.nnpdf.org/aboutus_14.html
Cyclodextrin
A few families have taken a different approach in individually seeking the approval of the FDA to start an individual trial. Some of their hard work contributed in helping promote the upcoming Cyclodextrin trial. Cyclodextrin could be one of many therapies needed in the future to help NPC patients manage the disease progression.
Letter From TRND
Dear families and friends of the NPC community,
The collaborative group planning a cyclodextrin clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the treatment of Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease met with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 as a follow up to the recently held November pre-IND meeting. On November 1, we met with the FDA Review Division staff to discuss the proposed development plan for cyclodextrin and needs for the IND application package.
Representatives from the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) group at the NIH, as well as several NPC researchers, Johnson & Johnson, and consultants from RRD International, LLC, participated in this meeting.
While the November meeting focused on the drug safety and toxicology data, the purpose of the December meeting was to discuss the proposed clinical trial design. Overall, the feedback from FDA was very positive and their comments and guidance will assist us in the generation of an IND application that is agreeable to FDA, thus allowing us to move forward with the initial clinical trial as soon as possible.
Preclinical toxicology and safety studies in animals are ongoing, and additional studies will be initiated shortly. These required nonclinical studies will guide the selection of drug doses for the initial trial and will provide essential safety information. In the upcoming months, we will be evaluating these study results and will incorporate them into the IND application and initial clinical protocol, which will then be submitted to FDA and the NIH Institutional Review Board (IRB). Once we have agreement from FDA and approval from the NIH IRB, we can share the specific details of the initial clinical trial, such as patient inclusion/exclusion criteria.
We are very excited about the progress we have made thus far and are encouraged by our recent meetings with FDA. We understand that the community is eager to start this initial trial as soon as possible and we do not have time to waste. Following the meeting, we believe that FDA shares our sense of urgency and we are grateful that they are willing to work closely with us to get this important initial trial started. As always, your support of NPC research is the final piece that will help us impact this disease. Thank you for your enthusiasm, your patience, and especially for trusting that we are making every effort to help individuals and families affected by NPC.
The TRND Team
Press Release:
NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases Program announces next round of drug development projects
