Egen Receives FDA Orphan Drug Grant for Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Egen has received a four-year grant from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop EGEN-001 for the treatment of advanced, recurrent ovarian cancer.

The company has completed two Phase I trials of EGEN-001, in which the treatment resulted in good safety, biological activity and encouraging efficacy.

EGEN-001 received orphan drug designation from the FDA in 2005. Its first orphan drug grant of $1m in 2005, and the latest grant is valued at $1.6m.

Egen president and chief scientific officer Khursheed Anwer said that FDA support had been very useful in the advancement of EGEN-001.

“The product uses the company’s proprietary TheraPlas delivery technology and is composed of interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene formulated with a biocompatible delivery polymer,” Anwer added.