SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., – March 21, 2024 – Human Immunology Biosciences (HI-Bio™), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for patients with severe immune-mediated diseases (IMDs), today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for felzartamab for the treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant recipients.

“Following the FDA’s granting of Breakthrough Therapy Designation for felzartamab in primary membranous nephropathy, we are encouraged to receive Orphan Drug Designation for felzartamab for antibody-mediated rejection,” said Uptal Patel, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at HI-Bio. “Along with our academic collaborators, we look forward to submitting clinical data from the ongoing study of felzartamab in antibody-mediated rejection to a medical conference this year. We are confident in the clinical progress of our anti-CD38 cellular depletion strategy, which to date, has resulted in proof-of-concept data in multiple severe immune-mediated diseases including antibody-mediated rejection, IgA nephropathy and primary membranous nephropathy.” 

The FDA’s Orphan Drug Designation program is designed to advance the development of drugs and biologics intended to treat a rare disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. Orphan Drug Designation qualifies HI-Bio for certain development incentives, including tax credits for qualified clinical trials, exemption of FDA application fees and up to seven-year market exclusivity upon regulatory approval.

About Antibody-Mediated Rejection (AMR) in Kidney Transplant Recipients 

Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a major cause of kidney transplant failure, with late AMR affecting approximately 23,000 patients total in the U.S. There is no effective treatment for AMR and patient options are highly limited. Donor-specific antibody (DSA) production by plasma cells, and tissue infiltration of Natural Killer (NK) cells presumed to be involved in DSA-dependent microvascular inflammation, are both linked to AMR. Observations that both plasma cells and NK cells express high levels of CD38 have motivated the approach of targeting CD38 to deplete these cell populations to address AMR. 

About Felzartamab

Felzartamab is an investigational therapeutic human monoclonal antibody directed against CD38, a protein expressed on mature plasma cells. Felzartamab has been shown in clinical studies to selectively deplete CD38+ plasma cells, which may allow applications that ultimately improve clinical outcomes in a broad range of diseases driven by pathogenic antibodies.

HI-Bio is focused on developing felzartamab in a number of immune-mediated diseases, including antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), IgA nephropathy (IgAN), lupus nephritis (LN) and primary membranous nephropathy (PMN). Felzartamab has received Breakthrough Therapy designation and Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for development in the treatment of PMN, and Orphan Drug Designation in the treatment of AMR in kidney transplant recipients.

HI-Bio in-licensed felzartamab from MorphoSys in 2022 and holds exclusive worldwide rights for felzartamab with the exception of Greater China. 

Felzartamab is an investigational therapeutic candidate that has not yet been approved by any regulatory authority.

About HI-Bio 

Human Immunology Biosciences, Inc. (HI-Bio™) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing precision medicines for people suffering from immune-mediated diseases (IMDs). HI-Bio is leading clinical immunology into its next chapter by targeting cellular drivers of disease. To learn more about HI-Bio, visit us at www.hibio.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.