Selecta Biosciences, Inc.and Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to MMA-101 for the treatment of isolated methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) due to methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (MMUT) gene mutations. The FDA grants Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to incentivize the development of new treatments for serious and life-threatening diseases that primarily affect children ages 18 years or younger with fewer than 200,000 people affected in the U.S. The Rare Pediatric Disease designation program allows for a sponsor who receives an approval for a product to potentially qualify for a voucher that can be redeemed to receive a priority review of a subsequent marketing application for a different product.

“This Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from the FDA highlights the significant unmet medical need that Selecta and AskBio are seeking to address with MMA-101 for this rare metabolic disorder,” said Carsten Brunn, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Selecta Biosciences. “When used with AAV gene therapy vectors, Selecta’s ImmTOR aims to inhibit the immune response to the AAV vector, potentially allowing re-dosing of gene therapies. Ongoing clinical programs will focus on evaluating product candidate performance in patients who may have been underdosed or those who may lose transgene expression over time. We’re honoured to receive this recognition and look forward to advancing this program in hopes of helping young patients affected by MMA and their families.”

“MMA is a serious and potentially life-threatening inherited metabolic disorder that presents in patients from newborns to adulthood,” said Sheila Mikhail, J.D., CEO and co-founder of AskBio. “AskBio is committed to delivering transformative genetic medicines for rare diseases like this one, and the Rare Pediatric Disease designation helps us continue development of MMA-101.”

AskBio and Selecta expect to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial of MMA-101 and ImmTOR for patients with MMA in 1H 2021.

Methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is a rare monogenic disorder in which the body cannot break down certain proteins and fats. This metabolic disease may lead to hyperammonemia and is associated with long-term complications including feeding problems, intellectual disability, chronic kidney disease and inflammation of the pancreas. Symptoms of MMA usually appear in early infancy and vary from mild to life-threatening. Without treatment, this disorder can lead to coma and in some cases death.