Benitec Biopharma first patient treated in Cohort 1 of BB-301 Phase 1b/2a study

Benitec Biopharma (BNTC) announced that the first patient treated in Cohort 1 of the BB-301 Phase 1b/2a clinical study evaluating BB-301 for the treatment of dysphagia in oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy, OPMD, has completed the 24-month post-treatment assessment. At the 24-month follow-up timepoint, Patient 1 continued to demonstrate robust, disease-modifying outcomes. At the 24-month follow-up timepoint, Patient 1 demonstrated deepening improvements in post-swallow pharyngeal residue as compared to the final pre-treatment timepoint and the 12-month post-treatment follow-up timepoint as assessed by x-ray-based swallowing studies. Additionally, Patient 1 experienced deepening improvements in total dysphagic symptom burden as assessed by the Sydney Swallow Questionnaire, SSQ. The first 4 patients in Cohort 1 have now completed the 12-month statistical follow-up period for the Phase 1b/2a study, and all 4 Completers continued to demonstrate durable response to BB-301. All 4 Cohort 1 Completers met the pre-specified statistical criteria for response to BB-301 defined by Benitec which require improvement across 2 or more of the 5 categories of assessment comprising the Responder Analysis.