MENLO PARK, Calif., May 14, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:AAVL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to improving or preserving the sight of people suffering from blinding eye diseases with an unmet medical need, announced that three posters, including one providing baseline demographics and characteristics from its Phase 2a clinical trial for AVA-101, will be presented at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 18th Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
AVA-101 (rAAV.sFlt-1) is being developed as a single treatment to provide a safe and effective therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) that is durable and reduces the need for frequent anti-VEGF injections. The Phase 2a clinical trial is currently ongoing to evaluate the safety of a single injection of rAAV.sFlt-1 in subjects with wet AMD. Twelve-month data from the study and 36-month follow-up from the Phase 1 trial are expected mid-year.
The poster, entitled, "Baseline Data for Patients Participating in the Phase 2a rAAV.sFlt-1 Gene Therapy Trial for Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration" will be presented by Elizabeth P. Rakoczy, PhD, Winthrop Professor of Molecular Ophthalmology at the University of Western Australia, on Thursday, May 14 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. CT.1 A summary is below:
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Enrolled subjects are representative of the wet AMD population under current treatment with anti-VEGF therapy with variable visual acuity and prior treatment. Subjects were randomized 2:1 to receive a single sub-retinal injection of 1E11 vg rAAV.sFlt-1 or 0.5 mg ranibizumab alone.
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The mean age of the subjects is 79 ± 7; median visual acuity was 63 ETDRS letters.
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The median number of previous anti-VEGF injections for non-naïve patients is 10, with three of the 32 subjects being treatment naïve.
In addition, Avalanche is presenting the following posters at the annual meeting:
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Poster: Evaluating AAV Hybrid Variants for Improved Tropism after Intravitreal Gene Delivery to the Retina |
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Presenter: Annahita Keravala, PhD, Avalanche Biotechnologies |
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Date/Time: Thursday, May 14, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. CT |
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Poster: pMNTC is a Cone-Specific Regulatory Cassette Designed to Treat Cone-Associated Disorders |
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Presenter: Kathryn Woodburn, PhD, Avalanche Biotechnologies |
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Presented on Wednesday, May 13, 5:15 – 6:45 p.m. CT |
About Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc.
Avalanche is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving or preserving the sight of people suffering from blinding eye diseases with an unmet medical need. Avalanche's proprietary Ocular BioFactory™ is a platform for discovering and developing novel medicines with the potential to offer life-changing therapeutic benefit. Avalanche's lead product candidate, AVA-101, is in mid-stage clinical development for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration. For more information, please visit www.avalanchebiotech.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements regarding Avalanche's plans, potential opportunities, expectations, projections, goals, objectives, milestones, strategies, product pipeline, clinical studies, product development and the potential benefits of its products under development, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our product development program, clinical development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the clinical development process, including the regulatory approval process, the timing of our regulatory filings and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of our product candidates. Avalanche undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties relating to the business of Avalanche, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5, 2015, and our subsequent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
1 Data, including the visual acuity at baseline, is subject to final CRO audit and verification. Data is further subject to protocol-specified full cleaning and query prior to database lock and analysis.
CONTACT: Investor Contact
Lauren Glaser
(650) 656-9347
lauren@avalanchebiotech.com
Media Contact
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Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc.