Humacyte, Inc. a biotechnology platform company developing universally implantable, bioengineered human tissues at commercial scale, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a full approval for SYMVESS (acellular tissue engineered vessel-tyod) for use in adults as a vascular conduit for extremity arterial injury when urgent revascularization is needed to avoid imminent limb loss, and when autologous vein graft is not feasible.

“We are very excited and proud to provide patients suffering from arterial injury with a novel treatment option. SYMVESS has been made possible by our innovative bioengineering science along with the contributions of many patients, healthcare providers and Humacyte team members.” said Laura Niklason, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Humacyte. “SYMVESS approval in this first indication for arterial injury repair is a milestone for regenerative medicine overall, as well as for Humacyte. The FDA’s full approval of SYMVESS is a transformational event for the Company and our bioengineering technology platform. Even more importantly, we believe SYMVESS provides a new means of treating patients with devastating arterial injuries, which is a population that has not benefited from substantial innovation in decades. We look forward with great excitement to our upcoming commercial launch of SYMVESS, and we have recruited and trained a terrific team to execute on our sales and marketing missions.”

“The approval of a vascular conduit that resists infection and remodels into native arteries is an extraordinary technological advancement that will have a huge impact on the quality of trauma care around the world,” said Charles J. Fox, MD, FACS, Director of Vascular Surgery at the University of Maryland Capital Region, a clinical investigator in the V005 clinical trial. “SYMVESS is perfectly sized to treat most injuries, has excellent handling properties, and reduces time necessary to save both life and limbs. The Humacyte team has responsibly and scientifically solved a major clinical problem that I believe will reduce the amputation rate for traumatic vascular injury. They should be congratulated on an accomplishment that will undoubtedly advance our specialty to the next level.”

“I believe that SYMVESS will revolutionize vascular trauma care and be profoundly beneficial to our patients,” said Rishi Kundi, MD, Surgical Critical Care, Vascular Surgery, University of Maryland Medical System. “From my experience so far, SYMVESS will allow reconstructions that are currently impracticable because of contamination and infection. It will make reconstructions that we now perform with prosthetic or even biologic grafts more successful. I am most excited about the promise that SYMVESS holds for the long-term experience of our patients. I hope that, with SYMVESS, the 19-year-old patient with vascular reconstruction after trauma will no longer spend the six decades after their surgery anticipating disaster, but that their chances for reintervention will be no different than if they had autologous conduit.”

SYMVESS, or the ATEV™, is a first-in-class bioengineered human tissue that is designed to be a universally implantable vascular conduit for use in arterial replacement and repair. While harvesting vein from a trauma patient takes valuable surgical time, SYMVESS is available off-the-shelf, and does not require further injuring the patient to obtain vascular repair material. Humacyte’s BLA included positive results from the V005 pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical study, as well as real-world evidence from the treatment of wartime injuries in Ukraine under a humanitarian aid program. SYMVESS was used to repair many types of traumatic injuries including car accidents, gunshot wounds, blast wounds, and industrial accidents. It was utilized by vascular and trauma surgeons in Level 1 Trauma centers throughout the U.S. and Israel to repair severe limb-threatening and life-threatening injuries, and in front-line hospitals in Ukraine to treat wartime injuries. Results from these studies were published in JAMA Surgery on November 20, 2024. In the civilian and military clinical studies, SYMVESS was observed to have high rates of patency, or blood flow, and low rates of amputation and infection.

“Finally, we have an innovative technology for battlefield vascular injuries using a tissue engineered human arterial replacement that can resist infections that are so prevalent in modern combat zones,” added Dr. Fox. “SYMVESS shows promise to reduce amputation rates since an alternative conduit for war injuries is often needed but up until now has not been a good option.”

“The FDA approval of SYMVESS will make it the preferred conduit for complex vascular injuries, and particularly those at risk for infection.” said Ernest E. Moore, MD, FACS, Director of Research at the Ernest E. Moore Shock Trauma Center at Denver Health, a clinical investigator in the V005 trial. “I look forward to using SYMVESS in my practice.”

Arterial injuries resulting from vascular trauma are common in civilian and military populations, frequently resulting in the loss of life or limb. In civilian populations, trauma injuries are primarily caused by motor vehicle, workplace and sporting accidents, gun violence, mass casualty terrorist attacks, stabbings, blunt trauma, and iatrogenic injuries (injuries caused by medical treatment or examination). Autologous vein, which is harvested from the patient’s body through a separate surgical incision, is the current preferred conduit for arterial repair. However, harvesting of autologous vein is not always feasible due to damage to veins or to the limbs. Harvesting autologous vein is also an invasive procedure that requires additional time and resources, delaying the time from injury to restoration of blood flow for the injured patient. In contrast, SYMVESS may be removed from its packaging and ready for implantation within minutes and does not involve creating additional incisions in already-injured patients.

The SYMVESS trauma program was granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation by the FDA in May 2023, a Biologic License Application (BLA) was submitted to the FDA in December 2023, and in February 2024 the FDA granted a Priority Review. On August 9, 2024, the FDA informed Humacyte that it needed additional time to complete its review of the BLA, although there were no outstanding pre-approval requirements for SYMVESS as of that date. The FDA completed its review today, granting full approval.

 

Source: globenewswire.com

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