DALLAS– Lantern Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary RADR® artificial intelligence (“A.I.”) and machine learning (“M.L.”) platform to transform the cost, pace, and timeline of oncology drug discovery and development, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted LP-284 Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). MCL is a rare and aggressive form of B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) that is typically diagnosed at advanced stages in elderly patients. As nearly all MCL patients acquire resistance and relapse from treatment with standard-of-care (SOC) agents, there is an urgent and unmet clinical need for new and effective therapies to treat MCL.
LP-284 is a novel small molecule agent that preferentially damages DNA in cancer cells harboring mutations in DNA damage repair pathways. Lantern is developing LP-284 for several aggressive B-cell NHL’s, including MCL and double hit lymphoma (DHL), where LP-284 has shown potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models. Lantern has been able to advance LP-284 from initial RADR® A.I. insights regarding anti-cancer activity and potential mechanisms of action in hematological cancers, to selection of specific subtypes of lymphomas with superior response, to late stage IND enabling studies and initial design of first in human clinical trials in less than 2 years.
“Receiving Orphan Drug Designation is an important milestone for our latest drug candidate, LP-284, and further validates our data-driven approach to oncology drug discovery and development” stated Panna Sharma, President & CEO of Lantern Pharma. “At ASH, we recently reported positive preclinical data demonstrating LP-284’s potent anti-tumor activity in new MCL tumors and also against tumors that had grown resistant to the MCL standard-of-care agents Ibrutinib and Bortezomib. These findings are critically pertinent due to the high relapse rate, and poor prognosis of the majority of MCL patients,” continued Sharma.
“This orphan designation is the fourth overall designation granted to Lantern, with the other three granted for our drug candidate LP-184. Acquiring these orphan designations is a key element of our business model as they provide a number of benefits including seven years of market exclusivity and eligibility for expedited drug development programs. Looking forward, these designations further position Lantern to advance our discussions with biopharma companies for partnering and collaborative development opportunities.”
The FDA’s Office of Orphan Products Development grants orphan status to drugs intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases or conditions affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. ODD is designed to provide drug developers with various benefits to support the development of novel drugs, including market exclusivity for seven years upon FDA approval, eligibility for tax credits for qualified clinical trials, waiver of marketing registration application fees, reduced annual product fees, clinical protocol assistance and qualification for expedited development programs.
In addition to the ODD granted for LP-284 in MCL, Lantern was previously granted ODD’s by the FDA for its drug candidate LP-184 for the treatment of malignant gliomas, atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT), and pancreatic cancer. Lantern has also been granted a Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for LP-184 in ATRT.
