Intellia Therapeutics Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for NTLA-5001 for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for Intellia’s ex vivo investigational T cell receptor (TCR)-T cell therapy, NTLA-5001, for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

NTLA-5001 is an autologous TCR-T cell therapy designed to target the Wilms’ Tumor (WT1) antigen, which is highly expressed in AML and many other hematologic and solid tumors. NTLA-5001 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2a study in adults with persistent or recurrent AML who have previously received first-line therapy.

“The FDA’s decision to grant orphan drug designation for NTLA-5001 reflects the serious need for novel treatment options for people living with AML, a disease with notably poor long-term survival,” said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D. “As part of our full-spectrum genome editing strategy, we seek to leverage our proprietary CRISPR/Cas9-based platform to engineer differentiated cell therapies targeting cancers for which there are currently limited or no treatment options. We look forward to advancing our investigational TCR-T cell therapy, NTLA-5001, through the clinic in hopes of improving future treatment options for patients in need.”

The FDA’s Orphan Drug Designation program provides orphan status to drugs defined as those intended for the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. Orphan drug designation qualifies the sponsor of the drug for certain development incentives, including tax credits for qualified clinical testing, prescription drug user-fee exemptions and seven-year marketing exclusivity upon FDA approval.