Abion announced on the 18th that it has received Expanded Access Program (EAP) approval from Seoul Asan Medical Center for its pipeline drug Babamekip (ABN 401). This approval was granted for the treatment of glioblastoma.
The company stated, "Following last month's EAP approval for the treatment of gastric cancer patients at Korea University Anam Hospital, it is meaningful to have now received approval for glioblastoma treatment as well. We believe this serves as another opportunity to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Babamekip, and we will strive to help patients who have no appropriate treatment options."
Babamekip is a targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer with c-MET (hepatocyte growth factor receptor) mutations. It is currently undergoing Phase 2 clinical trials at 18 centers across the United States, Korea, Taiwan, including the MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the world’s leading cancer hospitals.
Approximately 26% of all brain cancer patients are diagnosed with glioma, and more than half of these are glioblastoma patients. According to a paper published in the international journal Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, about 30% of glioblastoma patients exhibited overexpression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) or mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET). Additionally, over 50% of gastric cancer patient groups showed MET mutations.
An Abion representative said, "We are pursuing additional EAP approvals with various hospitals and hope that Babamekip will become a good treatment alternative for patients who are difficult to treat with existing drugs." They added, "Based on the results obtained from patients, there is also potential for expanding indications."
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