Tocagen Provides Update on European Regulatory Path for Toca 511 & Toca FC

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tocagen Inc. (Nasdaq: TOCA) today announced it has received Protocol Assistance from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) under the Company's PRIME (PRIority MEdicines) designation for Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) & Toca FC (flucytosine, extended-release) for the treatment of patients with recurrent high grade glioma (HGG).  In particular, the EMA indicated that the statistical analyses, seamless design, and the use of overall survival as the primary endpoint in the ongoing Phase 3 Toca 5 clinical trial are appropriate for a potential marketing authorization application for Toca 511 & Toca FC. 

"We are pleased the global Toca 5 trial has the potential to serve as the basis for a regulatory application in Europe, which we believe may expedite the advancement of Toca 511 & Toca FC as a treatment for patients with brain cancer. If the pivotal trial data are positive, our gene therapy would be the first medicine in over 20 years to show a treatment benefit in a randomized trial in patients with this disease," said Marty Duvall, chief executive officer of Tocagen. "Our interactions with the European regulators under the PRIME pathway are conducted in the spirit of collaboration and urgency to bring forward a new treatment for brain cancer as quickly as possible."

Toca 5 is an international, randomized, multi-center study evaluating the safety and efficacy of Toca 511 & Toca FC compared to standard of care in patients undergoing resection for recurrent HGG. The trial recently completed the planned enrollment of 380 patients. The primary endpoint of the trial is overall survival.  Secondary endpoints of the Toca 5 trial include durable response rate, defined as complete or partial responses lasting at least 24 weeks, which is being assessed as a novel endpoint in the post-surgical setting of recurrent HGG. Tocagen plans to conduct a second interim analysis of Toca 5 in the first half of 2019 and the final planned safety and efficacy analyses by the end of 2019. More information about Toca 5 can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov using the clinical trial identifier NCT02414165.

The Committee on Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) of the EMA has designated both Toca 511 & Toca FC as orphan medicinal products indicated for the treatment of glioma. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Toca 511 & Toca FC in recurrent HGG.

Recurrent HGG is among the most common and aggressive primary brain cancers and often strikes in the prime of life. The two most common forms of HGGs are glioblastoma and anaplastic astrocytoma. The total number of new diagnoses of HGG expected in 2018 is about 197,000 worldwide, with approximately 38,000 in Europe. Unfortunately, HGG recurs in most patients after frontline treatment, and standard of care treatment typically offers a median survival of only seven to nine months.

About Toca 511 & Toca FC
Tocagen's lead product candidate is a two-part cancer-selective immunotherapy comprising an investigational biologic, Toca 511, and an investigational small molecule, Toca FC. Toca 511 is a retroviral replicating vector (RRV) that selectively infects cancer cells and delivers a gene for the enzyme, cytosine deaminase (CD). Through this targeted delivery, only infected cancer cells carry the CD gene and produce CD. Toca FC is an orally administered prodrug, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), which is converted into an anti-cancer drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), when it encounters CD. 5-FU kills cancer cells and immune-suppressive myeloid cells resulting in anti-cancer immune activation and subsequent tumor killing.

About Tocagen
Tocagen is a clinical-stage, cancer-selective gene therapy company developing first-in-class, broadly applicable product candidates designed to activate a patient's immune system against their own cancer. Tocagen's lead investigational product candidate, Toca 511 & Toca FC, is under evaluation in a pivotal Phase 3 trial for recurrent high grade glioma (HGG), a disease with significant unmet medical need. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Toca 511 & Toca FC Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the treatment of recurrent HGG and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted Toca 511 PRIME (PRIority MEdicines) designation for the treatment of glioma. For more information about Tocagen, visit www.tocagen.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our business plans and objectives, timing and success of our clinical trials and planned clinical trials, and our plans regarding submissions for regulatory approvals of our product candidate. Risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the success, cost and timing of our product candidate development activities including ongoing clinical trials; the ability to replicate outcomes from early-stage clinical trials in later-stage trials; our ability to execute on our strategy; regulatory developments in the United States, the European Union and other foreign jurisdictions; and our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue and capital requirements. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Tocagen's filings and reports with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Tocagen undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Media Contact:
Pam Lord
Canale Communications
(619) 849-6003
[email protected] 

Investor Contact:
Elizabeth Broder
Endurance Advisors
[email protected]

SOURCE Tocagen Inc.