Arecor Therapeutics PLC (AIM:AREC) has triggered a milestone payment for a novel enhanced formulation of INBRX-101, a treatment for emphysema, from partner Inhibrx.
INBRX-101 was developed by Arecor using its Arestat platform with the milestone payment part of a licence agreement signed with Inhibrx Inc in December 2020.
The drug is aimed at people suffering from emphysema due to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).
Arecor added that AATD can cause serious lung disease in adults and/or liver disease at any age, affecting an estimated 100,000 patients in the United States.
In March last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted orphan-drug designation for INBRX-101 for the treatment of AATD, while in April, Inhibrx started recruitment for a trial, ElevAATe, utilising INBRX-101 with an initial read-out expected in late 2024.
Sarah Howell, Arecor’s chief executive, said: “This registration-enabling study may be sufficient to file for regulatory approval under the FDA's Accelerated Approval Program and is an important step in making this much-needed medicine available to patients with AATD."