Investor Conference Call and Webcast
Wave management will host an investor conference call today at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the third quarter 2022 financial results and provide a business update. A webcast of the conference call may be accessed by visiting “Events” on the investor relations section of the Wave Life Sciences corporate website: ir.wavelifesciences.com/events-and-presentations.
Analysts planning to participate during the Q&A portion of the live call can join the conference call at the following audio conferencing link: available here. Once registered, participants will receive the dial-in information.
Following the live event, an archived version of the webcast will be available on the Wave Life Sciences website.
About the SELECT-HD Clinical Trial
The SELECT-HD trial is a global, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1b/2a clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of single- and multiple-ascending intrathecal doses of WVE-003 in people with a confirmed diagnosis of HD who are in the early stages of the disease and carry SNP3 in association with their cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) expansion. Additional objectives include assessing the plasma pharmacokinetic profile and exposure in the cerebrospinal fluid, as well as exploratory pharmacodynamic (mHTT, wtHTT and neurofilament light chain) and clinical endpoints. It is designed to be adaptive, with dose escalation and dosing frequency being guided by an independent committee.
In an initial data analysis, single doses of WVE-003 up to 90 mg appeared generally safe and well-tolerated. Adverse events (AEs) were balanced across treatment groups, including placebo, and all were mild to moderate in intensity. No serious adverse events (SAEs) were observed and no participants discontinued from the study. Among participants in the 30 and 60 mg WVE-003 cohorts, the mean reduction in CSF mHTT from baseline was 22% (median reduction 30%) at 85 days following a single dose. The difference in the mean reduction in CSF mHTT compared to placebo was 35% at 85 days post-single dose. For these analyses, the 30 and 60 mg single dose cohorts were pooled as there was no apparent dose response between these two cohorts. Wave will continue to evaluate dose response in the expanded single dose cohorts. In the 30 and 60 mg cohorts, wtHTT protein was preserved, which appears consistent with allele-selectivity. Increases in neurofilament light chain (NfL) from baseline were observed in some participants. Wave will continue to monitor trends in NfL as SELECT-HD advances. There were no clinically meaningful elevations in CSF white blood cell counts or protein that would indicate inflammation in the CNS. There were no meaningful changes in clinical outcome measures, although the dataset and duration were not sufficient to assess clinical effects.
About the FOCUS-C9 Clinical Trial
The FOCUS-C9 trial is an ongoing, global, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1b/2a clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of single- and multiple-ascending intrathecal doses of WVE-004 for people with C9-ALS and/or C9-FTD. Additional objectives include measurement of poly(GP) DPR proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), plasma and CSF pharmacokinetics (PK), and exploratory biomarkers and clinical outcomes. The FOCUS-C9 trial is designed to be adaptive, with dose escalation and dosing frequency being guided by an independent committee.
In an initial data analysis, reductions in poly(GP) were observed across all active treatment groups (10 mg, n=2 patients; 30 mg, n=4 patients; 60 mg, n=3 patients), reaching statistical significance versus placebo (n=3 patients) after single 30 mg doses, with a 34% reduction in poly(GP) at day 85 (p=0.011). At the time of analysis, none of the patients dosed with 60 mg had reached day 85. As the poly(GP) reduction in the 30 mg single dose cohort does not appear to have plateaued, Wave will extend the observation period from approximately three months (85 days) to approximately six months to identify the maximum reduction of poly(GP) and duration of effect of low single doses. Based on the durability and potency observed in the 30 mg cohort, FOCUS-C9 has been adapted to include additional patients receiving 20 mg and 30 mg single doses of WVE-004. Adverse events (AEs) were balanced across treatment groups, including placebo, and were mostly mild to moderate in intensity. Four patients (including one on placebo) experienced severe and/or serious adverse events; three were reported by the investigators to be related to ALS or administration, and one was reported by the investigator to be related to study drug. There were no treatment-associated elevations in CSF white blood cell counts or protein and no other notable laboratory abnormalities were observed.