YAVNE, Israel, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MediWound Ltd. (NASDAQ: MDWD), a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company bringing innovative therapies to address unmet medical needs in severe burn and wound management, today announced it has submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking the approval of NexoBrid^® for eschar removal (debridement) in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns. 
The BLA submission includes a comprehensive set of manufacturing data, multiple preclinical and clinical studies including the pivotal U.S. Phase 3 (DETECT) study of NexoBrid in adult patients with deep partial and full-thickness thermal burns up to 30% of total body surface area. The DETECT study successfully met its primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints, with a comparable safety profile. NexoBrid is approved in the European Union and other international markets and has been designated as an orphan biologic drug in the United States, European Union and other international markets. Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ: VCEL) holds an exclusive license for North American commercial rights to NexoBrid.Funding and technical support for the development of NexoBrid is being provided by the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including the ongoing expanded access protocol (NEXT) in the U.S., which allows for the continued clinical use of NexoBrid during FDA’s review of the NexoBrid BLA. In addition, BARDA has made a $16.5 million commitment to procure NexoBrid for emergency stockpile as part of its mission to build national preparedness for public health medical emergencies.“The NexoBrid BLA submission is a major milestone in our unique long-term partnership with BARDA, and we believe that upon approval, NexoBrid will benefit severe burn victims in routine care and serve as a critical medical countermeasure in case of a U.S. mass casualty incident,” said Sharon Malka, CEO of MediWound. “Submitting the BLA has been a collaborative effort of many dedicated parties and we thank all of our investigators and their teams, studies participants, our employees and our partners, especially BARDA and Vericel, for their commitment to the program.”“The BLA submission for NexoBrid marks an important milestone in our partnership with MediWound, bringing us one step closer to providing NexoBrid as a treatment option for the tens of thousands of patients each year who suffer deep-partial and full-thickness burns that require debridement,” said Nick Colangelo, President and CEO of Vericel.  “We look forward, together with MediWound, to working with the FDA during the BLA filing and review process as we seek marketing approval for NexoBrid in the United States.”The FDA has a 60-day filing review period to determine whether the BLA is complete and acceptable for filing. MediWound is eligible to receive a milestone payment from Vericel upon BLA approval.About NexoBrid
NexoBrid (concentrate of proteolytic enzymes enriched in Bromelain) is a topically administered biological product that enzymatically removes nonviable burn tissue, or eschar, in patients with deep partial and full-thickness thermal burns within four hours of application without harming viable tissue. NexoBrid is approved in the European Union and other international markets and has been designated as an orphan biologic drug in the United States, European Union, and other international markets. Vericel holds an exclusive license for North American commercial rights to NexoBrid. In January 2019, MediWound announced positive top-line results from the acute phase of the pivotal Phase 3 U.S. clinical study (DETECT) of NexoBrid in adult patients with deep partial-and full-thickness thermal burns up to 30 percent of total body surface area. The study met its primary endpoint of complete eschar removal compared to gel vehicle as well as all secondary endpoints compared to standard of care (SOC), including shorter time to eschar removal, a lower incidence of surgical eschar removal and lower blood loss during eschar removal. Safety endpoints, including the key safety endpoint of non-inferiority in time to complete wound closure compared with patients treated with SOC, were also achieved. In addition, the twelve-month follow-up safety data of cosmesis and function were found to be comparable between the treatment and SOC arms, and no new safety signals were observed.MediWound and Vericel participated in a pre-BLA meeting in July 2019 with the FDA and received concurrence that the existing safety and efficacy data, including the two Phase 3 clinical studies and the twelve-month safety follow up data from DETECT are adequate to allow for BLA submission and review of NexoBrid. Additional twenty-four-month long term safety follow up data will be submitted as a safety labeling update as part of a post-approval commitment. NexoBrid is currently an investigational product in the United States.About MediWound Ltd.
MediWound is a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel therapeutics based on its patented proteolytic enzyme technology to address unmet needs in the fields of severe burns, chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds. MediWound’s first innovative biopharmaceutical product, NexoBrid, non-surgically and rapidly removes burn eschar without harming viable tissue. The product has received marketing authorization from the European Medicines Agency as well as the Israeli, Argentinian, South Korean, Russian and Peruvian Ministries of Health. MediWound’s second innovative product, EscharEx^® is a topical biological drug candidate for the debridement of chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds using the same proteolytic enzyme technology as NexoBrid. In two Phase 2 studies, EscharEx has demonstrated safety and efficacy in the debridement of various chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds, within a few daily applications. For more information, please visit www.mediwound.com.
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