TARA - Protara Therapeutics Reports Positive 3-Month TARA-002 Clinical Data Alignment with FDA on IV Choline Chloride Registrational Path Forward and Oversubscribed $45M Private Placement Financing

2024-04-05 09:03:21 ET

DENVER, Colo., Apr 05, 2024 ( 247marketnews.com )- Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TARA ) published three announcements today, including positive data from three-month evaluable carcinoma in situ (CIS) patients treated across its ongoing clinical program of TARA-002.

“These promising three-month results support the continued development of TARA-002 for patients with NMIBC for whom there are currently limited treatment options,” said Timothy Lyon, M.D., Associate Professor of Urology and the Urology Residency Program Director at Mayo Clinic in Florida, and TARA-002 study investigator. “Given our understanding that up to half of patients treated with intravesical immune therapies that do not initially respond can be salvaged with repeat induction, there is reason to believe that the promising three-month response rates shared today could be further improved through reinduction with TARA-002. This encouraging anti-tumor activity coupled with a favorable safety profile and mode of administration that is both convenient and familiar to urologists indicates that, if confirmed in future studies, TARA-002 could potentially play a meaningful role in NMIBC treatment in the future.”

“We are highly encouraged by these early results observed in these three-month evaluable patients across our ADVANCED-1 and ADVANCED-2 clinical trials, which clearly demonstrate TARA-002’s activity in both BCG-Unresponsive and BCG-Naïve patients. We look forward to sharing data from post-reinduction, six-month evaluable patients in our ADVANCED-2 trial in the second half of 2024,” said Jesse Shefferman, Chief Executive Officer of Protara Therapeutics.

“TARA-002 is a broad spectrum immunopotentiator with a similar mechanism of action as the standard of care, BCG. Because TARA-002 is an inactivated bacteria, there are no special dosing and administration protocol requirements, which makes it ideal for administration in the community urology practice setting,” said Gautam Jayram, MD., Director, Advanced Therapeutics Center, Urology Associates PC in Nashville and TARA-002 study investigator. “I am encouraged by the early three-month data in a challenging disease state and look forward to continued participation in the TARA-002 clinical program.”

Protara further stated that it reached alignment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a registrational path forward for intravenous (IV) Choline Chloride, an investigational phospholipid substrate replacement.

“There are currently no IV formulations of choline available or in development for PN patients. The FDA recognizes this as a serious unmet need and has been instrumental in helping us define an efficient regulatory path to provide a much-needed source of IV choline for these patients,” said Jesse Shefferman, Chief Executive Officer of Protara Therapeutics. “We look forward to advancing the clinical development of IV Choline Chloride, which we believe has the potential to become the first FDA approved IV choline therapy for patients dependent on PN. In parallel, we remain keenly focused on advancing our lead product candidate, TARA-002, for patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and lymphatic malformations.”

“Approximately 80 percent of PN-dependent patients are choline-deficient and have some degree of liver damage, which may be reversible with effective supplementation,” said Palle Bekker Jeppesen M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Professor and Head of the Department of Intestinal Failure and Liver Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. “Top professional medical societies in both the U.S. and Europe recognize the impact of long-term choline deficiency on liver health, particularly, the development of liver disease with progressive steatosis, fibrosis, and eventually end-stage liver cirrhosis, and recommend treatment with choline. Access to an IV formulation of choline has the potential to make a meaningful impact for intestinal failure patients for whom oral or enteral choline supplementation is not an option.”

Lastly, Protara stated that it extended its cash runway into 2026 by selling an aggregate of 9,143,380 shares of its common stock for a purchase price of $4.15and 1,700,000 shares prefunded warrants at a purchase price of $4.149. The private placement gross proceeds are expected to be around $45 million, before deducting expenses.

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