ProQR Completes Enrollment of its Pivotal Trial of Sepofarsen for the Treatment of LCA10

ProQR Therapeutics announced it has completed patient enrollment in its phase 2/3 Illuminate study of sepofarsen for the treatment of Leber Congenital Amaurosis 10 (LCA10) due to the p.Cys998X mutation in the CEP290 gene. With enrollment completed, topline results are expected in the first half (H1) of 2022.

Illuminate is a phase 2/3 trial, which randomized 36 patients aged 8 years or older to receive either sepofarsen at the target registration dose, a low dose, or sham treatment. The primary endpoint of this study is mean change from baseline in Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) at Month 12, at the registration dose versus sham. This trial is intended to support application for marketing approval of sepofarsen for patients with LCA10 due to the p.Cys998X mutation in the CEP290 gene. 

“We are pleased to have completed enrollment of the pivotal Illuminate trial of sepofarsen. This marks an important milestone for ProQR, as well as for the LCA10 and broader inherited retinal disease community. In surpassing our enrollment target, we were able to accommodate the broad interest to participate in the trial,” Aniz Girach, MD, Chief Medical Officer of ProQR, said in a company news release. “This speaks to the fact that there are currently no approved treatments for patients with LCA10. If approved, sepofarsen has the potential to be the first therapy to address this high unmet medical need for patients who would otherwise face blindness. We are grateful to those who have supported our efforts in bringing this trial forward, including our investigators, patients, and caregivers. We look forward to sharing the topline results in the first half of 2022.”

The Illuminate study was initiated based on data from a phase 1/2 study, which indicated that at Month 12, patients treated with sepofarsen had an improvement in visual acuity, as measured by BCVA. In a subset of patients (n=6) who were treated at the target registration dose, the mean change from baseline for BCVA at Month 12 was -0.93 LogMAR, equivalent to approximately 9 lines improvement (or 45 letters) on the ETDRS chart. In the phase 1/2 study, concordant improvements in measures of full-field stimulus testing (FST) and mobility were also observed, which are secondary endpoints in the Illuminate trial.

“LCA10 is a severe inherited retinal disease that leads to blindness, and for which there is currently no treatment,” Katarina Stingl, MD, Professor at University of Tuebingen, Center for Rare Eye Diseases (Germany), said in the news release. “Completing enrollment of the Illuminate trial marks an important milestone for the LCA10 community, as well as the IRD community as a whole, as we seek to advance new treatments for this patient group.”

Sepofarsen has been granted orphan drug designation in the United States and the European Union and received fast-track designation and rare pediatric disease designation from the FDA as well as access to the PRIME scheme by the EMA.