Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced clinical and regulatory updates for its orphan seizure programs in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD) and PCDH19-related epilepsy (PCDH19-RE).
“The decision to expand our epilepsy program in TSC was strategically informed by the discovery of a new potential epilepsy biomarker, Allo-S, in our Phase 2 study in PCDH19-related epilepsy,” said Scott Braunstein, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Marinus. “This led us to additional analyses that identified TSC as another rare genetic disorder that may be similarly impacted by Allo-S levels. We look forward to initiating a Phase 2 trial in the first half of 2020 to provide a potential targeted treatment option for these patients with limited approved therapies.”
Marinus intends to initiate a Phase 2, open label study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of adjunctive ganaxolone treatment in patients with seizures associated with TSC. Patient stratification from the Company’s PCDH19-related epilepsy Phase 2 trial identified a subpopulation of patients with improved ganaxolone responses, those with low levels of allopregnanolone-sulfate (Allo-S). Based on these data, the Company performed a biomarker analysis to identify other rare genetic epilepsies that may benefit from the GABAA-receptor modulatory effects of ganaxolone and today announced TSC as the next planned orphan epilepsy program to study the effect of ganaxolone on seizures as well as the expanded utility of a potential biomarker.
The planned Phase 2 study will be conducted at approximately 4-6 sites in the United States and enroll approximately 20-40 patients ages 2 to 65. Patients will undergo a 4-week baseline period followed by a 12-week treatment period. The primary endpoint for the study is percent change in 28-day primary seizure frequency through the end of the 12-week treatment period relative to the 4-week baseline period.