Humanigen and EVERSANA Announce Partnership to Support the Launch and Commercialization of Lenzilumab for the Treatment of COVID-19

Humanigen, Inc. (HGEN) (Humanigen), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on preventing and treating an immune hyper-response called cytokine storm with its lead drug candidate lenzilumab™, and EVERSANA, a pioneer of next-generation services to the global life sciences industry, announced that they are partnering to make lenzilumab available to hospitalized and hypoxic COVID-19 patients in the event that an Emergency Use Authorization is issued from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and subsequent BLA.

Humanigen’s investigational treatment, lenzilumab, a proprietary Humaneered® anti-human granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) monoclonal antibody, is designed to prevent and treat cytokine storm, a complication considered to be a leading cause of COVID-19 death. Data showed that up to 89 percent* of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 are hypoxic and at risk of this immune hyper-response, which can trigger acute respiratory distress syndrome in severe cases of COVID-19.

Under the terms of the agreement, and in anticipation of an EUA for the use of lenzilumab in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, Humanigen has immediate access to EVERSANA’s fully integrated services including, but not limited to, marketing, market access, medical education, health economics and outcomes research, medical information, compliance and medical science liaison teams, with each service optimized by data and predictive analytics. The agreement with EVERSANA builds on the commercial preparation and lenzilumab launch planning Humanigen has been conducting over the last several months.

“EVERSANA shares our tireless commitment to patients,” said Cameron Durrant, MD, MBA, chief executive officer of Humanigen. “We’ve matched our dedication to research and development in COVID-19 with a proven commercialization partner to ensure lenzilumab will reach patients quickly and efficiently following a potential EUA.”

“We stand ready to immediately activate our services spanning all disciplines of the product journey to ensure lenzilumab delivers significant patient value,” said Jim Lang, chief executive officer of EVERSANA. “While EVERSANA’s model can be applied to any therapy or indication, we have a moral obligation to help COVID-19 patients in distress, knowing that even with the promise of vaccines there will be many patients who contract this virus and desperately need a treatment if hospitalized and hypoxic.”

*Source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACT-1)