4SC – Recruitment target of 190 patients now reached in RESMAIN
Planegg-Martinsried, Germany, 8 November 2021 – 4SC AG (4SC, FSE Prime Standard: VSC) today announced that the 190th patient was enrolled into the pivotal RESMAIN study of resminostat in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Patients with advanced stage Mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome have been recruited in 11 European countries and Japan with the objective to evaluate resminostat as maintenance treatment. The study has now reached its enrolment target but will continue to recruit patients into 2022 as 4SC believes this is the fastest route to reach the 125 events required for unblinding the study, which is now expected in the middle of 2023.
Susanne Danhauser-Riedl, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of 4SC, commented: “Maintenance therapy is a novel approach with significant potential to benefit patients with CTCL. RESMAIN is the largest clinical study of maintenance therapy in CTCL, so to succeed in recruiting our targeted patient number of nearly 200 patients is a fantastic achievement for the 4SC team and everyone involved in the study. We are extremely pleased to achieve this important milestone despite the challenges of the Corona pandemic during the past 18 months. We believe that resminostat with its epigenetic mode of action can make a major contribution to the treatment of CTCL and now look forward to unblinding of the study and data read out, which is expected in the middle of 2023.”
About 4SC
4SC AG is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small-molecule drugs that can target key indications in cancer with high unmet medical needs. 4SC’s pipeline is protected by a comprehensive portfolio of patents and currently comprises two drug candidates in clinical development: resminostat and domatinostat.
4SC aims to generate future growth and enhance its enterprise value by entering into partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies and/or the eventual marketing and sales of approved drugs in select territories by 4SC itself.
4SC is headquartered in Planegg-Martinsried near Munich, Germany. The Company had 49 employees as of 30 September 2021 and is listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE Prime Standard: VSC; ISIN: DE000A3E5C40).
About resminostat
Resminostat is an orally administered class I, IIb and IV histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that potentially offers an approach to treating different kinds of cancer. Resminostat demonstrated that it is well tolerated and can inhibit tumor growth and proliferation, cause tumor regression, and strengthen the body’s immune response to cancer.
Resminostat is currently being investigated in a pivotal study in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) as maintenance treatment by 4SC in Europe and by Yakult Honsha in Japan.
About cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL)
CTCL is a rare disease with approximately 5,000 patients being newly diagnosed in Europe each year. The disease arises from malignant transformation of T-cells, a specialized subgroup of immune cells, primarily affects the skin, but may ultimately involve lymph nodes, blood and visceral organs.
Currently, CTCL is not curable and treatment options for advanced-stage CTCL are limited. Although patients respond to the available treatment options, the duration of response is often short-lived and declines as the severity of the disease increases. The key therapeutic challenge in advanced-stage CTCL is therefore to make remissions more durable by halting disease progression and improving patient’s quality of life.
About the RESMAIN study – resminostat for maintenance treatment of CTCL
The pivotal RESMAIN study is being conducted at more than 50 clinical centers in 11 European countries and Japan. It will include up to 190 patients who suffer from advanced-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) that have achieved disease control with systemic therapy. The patients are randomized 1:1 to receive either resminostat or placebo. Patients who experience disease progression – while being on placebo – will be offered resminostat in an open label treatment arm.
The primary goal of the study is to determine whether maintenance treatment with resminostat prolongs progression-free survival and the key secondary objective is to prolong the time to symptom worsening (itching). A comprehensive biomarker program is also included in the study to ensure vital knowledge about the biological background of resminostat treatment in CTCL.
About the concept of maintenance therapy
The pivotal RESMAIN study is focused on patients with advanced-stage, incurable cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Such patients suffer from painful and itchy skin lesions resulting in disfigurement and a severely impaired quality of life. Furthermore, lymph nodes, blood or visceral organs can be involved. The current therapeutic options rarely provide long-lasting responses or stabilization of disease for meaningful periods, with most patients progressing within several months.
Resminostat is being evaluated as maintenance treatment – a unique innovative treatment approach in CTCL (Stadler et al., 2021) – intended to prolong the period patients are stable and not progressing. Furthermore, recent preclinical data suggests that resminostat has the potential to alleviate the itching in CTCL patients, thereby additionally improving their quality of life.
Forward-looking information
Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of 4SC as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond 4SC’s control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. 4SC expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.