60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SXTP; SXTPW) (the
“Company” or “60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals”), a pharmaceutical
company focused on developing new medicines for infectious
diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (“FDA”) has granted its investigational
tafenoquine candidate orphan drug designation for
the treatment of patients with acute babesiosis.
FDA orphan drug designation is granted for therapeutic
candidates that may prevent or treat a rare disease or condition,
such as acute babesiosis. Babesiosis is a steadily emerging,
infectious disease transmitted by a microscopic parasite, Babesia,
through the bite of the black-legged (deer) tick, the vector that
spreads Lyme disease. Babesiosis may be life-threatening in elderly
and immunosuppressed patients. Up to 10 percent of Lyme disease
patients may be coinfected with Babesia. Therefore, up to 47,600 of
the estimated 476,000 patients with new Lyme infections each year
may be co-infected with Babesia.
“Results of recent animal studies of
tafenoquine show exciting promise for the drug to
have potential in human patients with acute babesiosis,” said Chief
Executive Officer of 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Geoff Dow, PhD.
“The FDA granting tafenoquine orphan drug
designation for acute babesiosis validates the growing need for an
additional therapeutic option that infectious disease specialists
can use in addressing this very serious, potentially
life-threatening illness. We look forward to results of our
clinical trial program in coming months and to the prospect of
securing a secondary indication for tafenoquine in
the area of acute babesiosis treatment.”
60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals recently announced it has entered
into an agreement with Tufts Medical
Center in Boston to conduct the world’s first
clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety
of tafenoquine in treating patients who
have acute babesiosis. Recruitment for the trial will begin on June
13, 2024, and will include at least 24 patients hospitalized with
babesiosis. Additional recruitment sites at prominent university
hospitals in the Northeast U.S. are also planned.
With the tafenoquine for acute babesiosis
orphan drug designation, 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals now qualifies
for certain incentives, including market exclusivity, tax credits,
and exemption from certain FDA filing fees.
About Tafenoquine
Tafenoquine is approved for malaria
prophylaxis in the United States under the product name
ARAKODA®. The safety of the approved regimen
of tafenoquine for malaria prophylaxis
has been assessed in five separate randomized, double-blind, active
comparator or placebo-controlled trials for durations of up to six
months. Tafenoquine has not been proven
to be effective for treatment or prevention of babesiosis and is
not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for
such an indication.
About the Study of Tafenoquine for Patients Hospitalized
with Babesiosis
The study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
trial that will enroll patients at multiple sites in
the Northeast U.S. and will compare the safety and
efficacy of tafenoquine versus placebo in patients
hospitalized for babesiosis with low risk for relapsing disease who
will also be administered a standard-of-care antimicrobial regimen.
The two main study endpoints will be the time to sustained clinical
resolution of symptoms and the time to molecular cure as determined
by an FDA-approved nucleic acid test. At least 24, and as many as
33 patients, will be recruited before an interim analysis is
conducted. Sufficient enrollment capacity is planned to allow all
study subjects to be recruited during the 2024 tick season (June to
September) if caseload is high. The interim analysis will include
both a test of significance, as well as size re-estimation to allow
additional recruitment if required. The study will be conducted at
three hospitals in the Northeast U.S. The efficacy and
safety of 8-aminoquinolines, a class of drugs that
includes tafenoquine and primaquine, for
prevention and treatment of malaria is well documented. Several
case reports of tafenoquine use for
babesiosis indicate that the drug is already being used for this
purpose in the practice of medicine in the U.S.
About
ARAKODA® (tafenoquine)Tafenoquine was
discovered by Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Tafenoquine was approved for malaria
prophylaxis in 2018 in the United States as
ARAKODA® and in Australia as KODATEF®. Both were
commercially launched in 2019 and are currently distributed through
pharmaceutical wholesaler networks in each respective country. They
are available at retail pharmacies as a prescription-only malaria
prevention drug. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, the long terminal half-life
of tafenoquine, which is approximately 16
days, may offer potential advantages in less-frequent dosing for
prophylaxis for malaria. ARAKODA® is not suitable for
everyone, and patients and prescribers should review the Important
Safety Information below. Individuals at risk of contracting
malaria are prescribed ARAKODA® 2 x 100 mg tablets once per day for
three days (the loading phase) prior to travel to an area of the
world where malaria is endemic, 2 x 100 mg tablets weekly for up to
six months during travel, then 2 x 100 mg in the week following
travel.
ARAKODA® (tafenoquine)
Important Safety InformationARAKODA® is an
antimalarial indicated for the prophylaxis of malaria in patients
aged 18 years of age and older.
ContraindicationsARAKODA® should not be
administered to:
- Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
(“G6PD”) deficiency or unknown G6PD status;
- Breastfeeding by a lactating woman
when the infant is found to be G6PD deficient; or if
- G6PD status is unknown;
- Patients with a history of psychotic
disorders or current psychotic symptoms; or
- Known hypersensitivity reactions to
tafenoquine, other 8-aminoquinolines, or any
component of ARAKODA®.
Warnings and PrecautionsHemolytic
Anemia: G6PD testing must be performed before
prescribing ARAKODA® due to the risk of hemolytic anemia.
Monitor patients for signs or symptoms of hemolysis.G6PD
Deficiency in Pregnancy or Lactation: ARAKODA® may cause
fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman with a
G6PD-deficient fetus. ARAKODA® is not recommended during pregnancy.
A G6PD-deficient infant may be at risk for hemolytic anemia from
exposure to ARAKODA® through breast milk. Check infant’s G6PD
status before breastfeeding
begins.Methemoglobinemia: Asymptomatic
elevations in blood methemoglobin have been observed. Initiate
appropriate therapy if signs or symptoms of methemoglobinemia
occur.Psychiatric Effects: Serious psychotic
adverse reactions have been observed in patients with a history of
psychosis or schizophrenia, at doses different from the approved
dose. If psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, or grossly
disorganized thinking or behavior) occur, consider discontinuation
of ARAKODA® therapy and evaluation by a mental health
professional as soon as possible.Hypersensitivity
Reactions: Serious hypersensitivity reactions have
been observed with administration of ARAKODA®. If hypersensitivity
reactions occur, institute appropriate therapy.Delayed
Adverse Reactions: Due to the long half-life of
ARAKODA® (approximately 16 days), psychiatric effects,
hemolytic anemia, methemoglobinemia, and hypersensitivity reactions
may be delayed in onset and/or duration.Adverse
Reactions: The most common adverse reactions
(incidence greater than or equal to 1 percent) were: headache,
dizziness, back pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, increased alanine
aminotransferase, motion sickness, insomnia, depression, abnormal
dreams, and anxiety.Drug InteractionsAvoid
co-administration with drugs that are substrates of organic cation
transporter-2 or multidrug and toxin extrusion transporters.
Use in Specific PopulationsLactation: Advise
women not to breastfeed a G6PD-deficient infant or infant with
unknown G6PD status during treatment and for 3 months after the
last dose of ARAKODA®.To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS,
contact 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at 1-
888-834-0225 or the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088
or www.fda.gov/medwatch. The full prescribing information of
ARAKODA® is located here.
About 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc.60
Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc., founded in 2010, specializes in
developing and marketing new medicines for the treatment and
prevention of infectious diseases that affect the lives of millions
of people. 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. achieved FDA
approval of its lead product,
ARAKODA® (tafenoquine), for malaria
prevention, in 2018. 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. also collaborates with prominent research organizations
in the U.S., Australia, and Singapore. The 60
Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. mission has been supported
through in-kind funding from the U.S. Department of
Defense and private institutional investors including Knight
Therapeutics Inc., a Canadian-based pan-American specialty
pharmaceutical company. 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. is headquartered in Washington D.C., with a
majority-owned subsidiary in Australia. Learn more
at www.60degreespharma.com.
The statements contained herein may include prospects,
statements of future expectations and other forward-looking
statements that are based on management’s current views and
assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from
those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release may contain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of
the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward‐looking statements reflect the current view about
future events. When used in this press release, the words
“anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “future,” “intend,”
“plan,” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions, as
they relate to us or our management, identify forward‐looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts
nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only
on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions
regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies,
projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, activities
of regulators and future regulations and other future conditions.
Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are
subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in
circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are
outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition
may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking
statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these
forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our
actual results and financial condition to differ materially from
those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among
others, the following: there is substantial doubt as to our ability
to continue on a going-concern basis; we might not be eligible for
Australian government research and development tax rebates; if we
are not able to successfully develop, obtain FDA approval for, and
provide for the commercialization of non- malaria prevention
indications for tafenoquine (ARAKODA® or
other regimen) or Celgosivir in a timely manner, we may not be able
to expand our business operations; we may not be able to
successfully conduct planned clinical trials or patient recruitment
in our trials might be slow or negligible; and we have no
manufacturing capacity which puts us at risk of lengthy and costly
delays of bringing our products to market. More detailed
information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect
the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the
Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”), including the information contained in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with
the SEC on April 1, 2024, and our
subsequent SEC filings. Investors and security holders
are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC’s web
site at www.sec.gov. As a result of these matters, changes in
facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, the
Company’s actual results may differ materially from the expected
results discussed in the forward-looking statements contained in
this press release. Any forward-looking statement made by us in
this press release is based only on information currently available
to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We
undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to
time, whether as a result of new information, future developments
or otherwise.
Media Contact:Sheila A.
BurkeSheilaBurke-consultant@60degreespharma.com(484) 667-6330
Investor Contact:Patrick
Gaynespatrickgaynes@60degreespharma.com(310) 989-5666
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