Soligenix, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNGX) (Soligenix or the Company), a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, announced today that the European Commission, acting on the positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP), has granted orphan drug designation to dusquetide (the active pharmaceutical ingredient in SGX945) for the treatment of Behçet's Disease, following review of the recently published Phase 2a clinical results demonstrating biological efficacy and safety in patients with Behçet's Disease. SGX945 has previously been granted both orphan drug and fast track designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Behçet's Disease.
Orphan drug designation by the EMA provides a 10-year period of marketing exclusivity in the European Union (EU) after product approval. Orphan designation also provides incentives for companies seeking protocol assistance from the EMA during the product development phase, and direct access to the centralized authorization procedure. The European Commission grants orphan designations for medicines that treat a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition affecting no more than five in 10,000 persons in the EU and where no satisfactory treatment is available.