GRI Bio Receives MHRA Authorization to Conduct Phase 2a Biomarker Study Evaluating GRI-0621 in the UK

GRI Bio, Inc. recently announced the authorization of its Clinical Trial Application (CTA) by the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to initiate a Phase 2a biomarker study evaluating GRI-0621 for the treatment of IPF in the UK.

The MHRA is the UK regulatory authority, a government agency, for medicines and medical devices. The MHRA is responsible for the regulation of medicines and medical devices and equipment used in healthcare and the investigation of harmful incidents.

“We are pleased to receive authorization from the MHRA and take a step in the global expansion of our clinical development for GRI-0621. We continue to make encouraging progress in the US with our Phase 2a study and believe the approval for this expansion into the UK underscores the global significant unmet need for an IPF treatment option that interrupts disease progressing and restores homeostasis in the immune system earlier in the inflammatory cascade. We are focused on driving this program forward and generating important data readouts this year,” said Marc Hertz, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of GRI Bio.

“This approval is an important step in the continuum of GRI-0621’s clinical development plan and will help provide the foundation for the continued collaboration between GRI Bio and the NIHR Respiratory TRC with the ultimate goal of giving patients with IPF continued access to novel and potentially life-changing medications,” added Dr. Nikhil Hirani, Reader, Deanery of Clinical Sciences Centre for Inflammation Research Edinburgh Imaging.

IPF is a rare chronic progressive pulmonary disease with abnormal scarring of the lung blocking the movement of oxygen into the bloodstream. Currently available treatments for IPF are limited with only two approved drugs that come with significant side-effects, limited compliance and no impact on survival.

The Phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled, parallel-design, 2-arm study will enroll approximately 36 subjects with IPF whom will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio for GRI-0621 4.5mg or a placebo. GRI-0621 dose of 4.5mg will be compared with a dose of placebo following once daily oral administration for 12 weeks. Concurrently, a sub-study will examine the number and activity of NKT cells in bronchoalveolar lavage (“BAL”) fluid for up to 12 eligible subjects (across various centers). An interim analysis will be performed when 24 subjects (of which approximately 8 will be placebo subjects) complete 6 weeks of treatment. The primary endpoint for the study is safety and tolerability of oral GRI-0621 as assessed by clinical labs, vital signs and adverse events after 12 weeks of treatment. Secondary endpoints are baseline changes in serum biomarkers collected at week 6 and week 12; an assessment of the pharmacokinetics (PK) of GRI-0621 at the week 12 visit of treatment (steady state); and a determination of the pharmacodynamic activity of oral GRI-0621 as measured by inhibition of iNKT cell activation in blood after 6 weeks and 12 weeks, and from BAL fluid after 12 weeks of treatment in a sub-study. An additional exploratory endpoint for the study is to assess the effect of GRI-0621 on pulmonary function at baseline and after 6 weeks and 12 weeks of treatment.

GRI Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on fundamentally changing the way inflammatory, fibrotic and autoimmune diseases are treated. GRI Bio’s therapies are designed to target the activity of NKT cells, which are key regulators earlier in the inflammatory cascade, to interrupt disease progression and restore the immune system to homeostasis. NKT cells are innate-like T cells that share properties of both NK and T cells and are a functional link between the innate and adaptive immune responses. Type I invariant NKT (iNKT) cells play a critical role in propagating the injury, inflammatory response, and fibrosis observed in inflammatory and fibrotic indications. GRI Bio’s lead program, GRI-0621, is an inhibitor of iNKT cell activity and is being developed as a novel oral therapeutic for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious disease with significant unmet need. The company is also developing a pipeline of novel type 2 NKT agonists for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Additionally, with a library of over 500 proprietary compounds, GRI Bio has the ability to fuel a growing pipeline.