On Friday, August 2, 2024, the PWS Advocacy Coalition submitted a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), requesting the filing and priority review of the New Drug Application (NDA) for Soleno Therapeutics’ drug, DCCR. The petition, signed by 14,271 members of the PWS community, was sent to FDA officials Dr. Tiffany Farchione (Psych Division Director), Dr. Teresa Buracchio (Office of Neuroscience Director), Dr. Peter Stein (Office of New Drugs Director), and Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni (CDER Director).
The full petition, along with more than 100 pages of comments from the PWS community, is available via the button below. These comments provide compelling patient voices for the FDA to consider. While we anticipate the FDA will acknowledge the petition’s submission, we do not expect them to comment on it publicly due to their rules classifying the review of the DCCR NDA as “commercial, confidential information.”
This is a tremendous accomplishment, and everyone in the PWS community should feel very proud! We will share updates and details about the FDA’s review and decision regarding DCCR’s NDA as they become available.
About DCCR (Diazoxide Choline) Extended-Release Tablets
DCCR is a novel, proprietary extended-release dosage form containing diazoxide choline, the crystalline salt of diazoxide and is administered once-daily. The parent molecule, diazoxide, has been used for decades in thousands of individuals in a few rare diseases in neonates, infants, children and adults, but is not approved for use in PWS. Soleno conceived of and established extensive patent protection for the therapeutic use of diazoxide, diazoxide choline and DCCR in individuals with PWS. The DCCR development program is supported by data from five completed Phase 1 clinical studies in healthy volunteers and three completed Phase 2 clinical studies, one of which was in individuals with PWS. In the PWS Phase 3 clinical development program, DCCR showed promise in addressing hyperphagia, the hallmark symptom of PWS, as well as several other symptoms such as aggressive/destructive behaviors, fat mass and other metabolic parameters. Diazoxide choline has received Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of PWS in the U.S. and E.U., and Fast Track and Breakthrough Designations in the U.S.
Jennifer Bolander has been serving as a Special Education Specialist for PWSA (USA) since October of 2015. She is a graduate of John Carroll University and lives in Ohio with her husband Brad and daughters Kate (17), and Sophia (13) who was born with PWS.
Perry A. Zirkel has written more than 1,500 publications on various aspects of school law, with an emphasis on legal issues in special education. He writes a regular column for NAESP’s Principal magazine and NASP’s Communiqué newsletter, and he did so previously for Phi Delta Kappan and Teaching Exceptional Children.
Evan has worked with the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA) since 2007 primarily as a Crisis Intervention and Family Support Counselor. Evans works with parents and schools to foster strong collaborative relationships and appropriate educational environments for students with PWS.
Dr. Amy McTighe is the PWS Program Manager and Inpatient Teacher at the Center for Prader-Willi Syndrome at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. She graduated from Duquesne University receiving her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education with a focus on elementary education, special education, and language arts.
Staci Zimmerman works for Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Colorado as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) consultant. Staci collaborates with the PWS multi-disciplinary clinic at the Children’s Hospital in Denver supporting families and school districts around the United States with their child’s Individual Educational Plan.
Founded in 2001, SDLC is a non-profit legal services organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the legal rights of people with disabilities throughout the South. It partners with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Protection and Advocacy (P&A) programs, Legal Services Corporations (LSC) and disability organizations on major, systemic disability rights issues involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the federal Medicaid Act. Recently in November 2014, Jim retired.