Briquilimab granted orphan drug designation by the European Commission

On January 4, 2023, briquilimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the CD117 receptor, was granted orphan drug designation by the European Commission, as a conditioning treatment prior to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).¹ Briquilimab received orphan drug designation from the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2022.¹

As previously reported by the AML Hub, briquilimab is currently being investigated as a conditioning treatment prior to HSCT in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).¹ Briquilimab was found to have a tolerable safety profile, with full donor chimerism in all 24 patients with acute myeloid leukemia or MDS. There were no reports of treatment-related significant adverse events, classical acute Grade II–IV graft-versus-host disease, or transplant mortality within 100 days. Briquilimab is also being assessed as a primary therapy for patients with low-risk MDS and as a conditioning therapy prior to HSCT for patients with severe combined immunodeficiency.¹