PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY
This summary highlights information contained elsewhere or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement. This summary does not contain all of the information you should consider before investing in our common stock. Before you decide to invest in our common stock, you should carefully read the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus that we have authorized for use in connection with this offering, including the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in this prospectus supplement and under similar heading in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement. You should also carefully read the information incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements, and the exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus supplement and the accompany prospectus are a part.
Company Overview
We are a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with rare genetic mitochondrial diseases, which are often associated with the inability of mitochondria to produce adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Our lead product candidate, mavodelpar (formally known as REN001), is a potent and selective agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, or PPARd. Mavodelpar has been shown to increase transcription of genes involved in mitochondrial function and increase fatty acid oxidation, or FAO, and may increase production of new mitochondria.
The PPAR family of nuclear hormone receptors, PPARa, PPARg, and PPARd, control the transcription of genes critical for regulating energy metabolism and homeostasis. PPARd is highly expressed in muscle, kidney, brain, and liver tissue. Activation of PPARd results in changes in the expression of genes involved with multiple aspects of energy metabolism including uptake of fatty acids, utilization of fatty acids as an energy source, and mitochondrial biogenesis.
Increases in PPARd activity also correlate with a shift in muscle tissue towards oxidative, fat-consuming type I fibers that are associated with endurance as opposed to glycolytic, type II fibers. In preclinical and clinical studies, increased PPARd activity through transgenic overexpression or pharmacological activation increases muscular strength and endurance across a variety of functional measures. Mavodelpar was studied in healthy male volunteers with one leg immobilized to produce muscle atrophy. Compared to placebo, administration of mavodelpar resulted in statistically significant increases in expression of genes involved in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, and statistically significant improvements in muscle strength. Mavodelpar was studied in an open-label trial in patients with primary mitochondrial myopathy, or PMM. Patients with PMM in this trial exhibited improved function, reduced symptoms, and increased expression of genes involved in mitochondrial function. Mavodelpar was also studied in an open-label trial in patients with long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorder, or LC-FAOD. In this trial, patients with LC-FAOD due to certain gene defects exhibited improved function and reduced symptoms.
As a PPARd agonist, mavodelpar may benefit patients with genetic mitochondrial myopathies who experience weakness, fatigue, or deterioration in muscle due to impaired mitochondrial energy production. Patients with these diseases are unable to perform many everyday activities, can experience cardiomyopathy and other organ dysfunction, and typically have a reduced life expectancy. We are currently developing mavodelpar in rare genetic diseases that typically present with myopathy, including PMM and LC-FAOD.
There are currently no approved therapies for the treatment of PMM, representing a high unmet medical need.
We have received orphan drug designations for mavodelpar in the United States for PMM and LC-FAOD. Additionally, we have received orphan drug designations for mavodelpar for mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and neurological stroke-like episodes, or MELAS, a form of PMM, and long-chain 3-hydroxy acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, or LCHAD, a form of LC-FAOD in the European Union.