DUBLIN, Ireland and TREVOSE, Pa. – Strongbridge Biopharma plc, (Nasdaq: SBBP), a global commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for rare diseases with significant unmet needs, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 11,020,393 entitled, “Methods of Treating Disease with Levoketoconazole” which covers a method of treating Cushing’s syndrome patients with RECORLEV® (levoketoconazole) who also take metformin for Type 2 diabetes. The term of the U.S. patent will expire on March 2, 2040.
This will be the third patent issued in the U.S. relating to RECORLEV. The first, U.S. Patent No. 9,198,906, covers methods of reducing C-reactive protein levels and systemic inflammation through administration of a once-daily dose of RECORLEV and will expire on December 29, 2030. The second, U.S. patent No. 9,918,984, covers methods of treating Cushing’s syndrome with levoketoconazole and will expire on January 10, 2026.
RECORLEV is an adrenal steroidogenesis inhibitor with a New Drug Application that is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome.
About Cushing’s Syndrome
Endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, is a rare, serious and potentially lethal endocrine disease caused by chronic elevated cortisol exposure – often the result of a benign tumor of the pituitary gland. This benign tumor tells the body to overproduce high levels of cortisol for a sustained period of time, and this often results in undesirable physical changes. The disease is most common among adults between the ages of 30 to 50, and it affects women two times more often than men. Women with Cushing’s syndrome may experience a variety of health issues including menstrual problems, difficulty becoming pregnant, excess male hormones (androgens), primarily testosterone which can cause hirsutism (growth of coarse body hair in a male pattern), oily skin, and acne. Additionally, the internal manifestations of the disease are potentially life threatening. These include metabolic changes such as high blood sugar, or diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fragility of various tissues including blood vessels, skin, muscle and bone, and psychologic disturbances such as depression, anxiety and insomnia. Untreated, the five-year survival rate is only approximately 50 percent.
About RECORLEV
RECORLEV® (levoketoconazole) is an investigational adrenal steroidogenesis inhibitor in development for the treatment of patients with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, a rare but serious and potentially lethal endocrine disease caused by chronic elevated cortisol exposure. RECORLEV is the pure 2S,4R enantiomer of ketoconazole, a steroidogenesis inhibitor. RECORLEV has demonstrated in two successful Phase 3 studies to significantly suppress serum cortisol and has the potential to be a next-generation cortisol inhibitor.
The Phase 3 program for RECORLEV includes SONICS and LOGICS: two multinational studies designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of RECORLEV when used to treat endogenous Cushing’s syndrome. The SONICS study met its primary and secondary endpoints, demonstrating a statistically significant normalization rate of urinary free cortisol at six months. The LOGICS study, which met its primary endpoint and key secondary endpoint, is a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized-withdrawal study of RECORLEV that is designed to supplement the long-term efficacy and safety information supplied by SONICS. The ongoing long-term open label OPTICS study will gather further useful information related to the long-term use of RECORLEV.
RECORLEV has received orphan drug designation from the FDA and the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome.
About Strongbridge Biopharma
Strongbridge Biopharma is a global commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for rare diseases with significant unmet needs. Strongbridge’s rare endocrine franchise includes RECORLEV® (levoketoconazole), an adrenal steroidogenesis inhibitor with a New Drug Application that is currently under review by the FDA for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, and veldoreotide extended release, a pre-clinical next-generation somatostatin analog being investigated for the treatment of acromegaly and potential additional applications in other conditions amenable to somatostatin receptor activation. Both RECORLEV and veldoreotide have received orphan drug designation from the FDA and the European Medicines Agency. The company’s rare neuromuscular franchise includes KEVEYIS® (dichlorphenamide), the first and only FDA-approved treatment for hyperkalemic, hypokalemic, and related variants of primary periodic paralysis. KEVEYIS has orphan drug exclusivity in the United States.
Contact:
Corporate and Media Relations
Elixir Health Public Relations
Lindsay Rocco
+1 862-596-1304
[email protected]
Investor Relations
Solebury Trout
Mike Biega
+1 617-221-9660
[email protected]