Everest Medicines Announces Partner Calliditas Therapeutics Receives FDA Priority Review for Full Approval of Nefecon® for the Treatment of IgA Nephropathy

Shanghai, China — August 21, 2023 — Everest Medicines (HKEX 1952.HK, “Everest”, or the "Company") announced today that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the submission for the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Nefecon® from its partner Calliditas Therapeutics AB (Nasdaq: CALT, Nasdaq Stockholm: CALTX) (“Calliditas”) and granted Priority Review. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date is Dec. 20, 2023.

“We congratulate our partner Calliditas for being granted priority review by the FDA for full approval and taking a step closer to offering this first-in-disease therapy to all IgAN patients at risk of progression. It is another testament to Nefecon® as an important, disease-modifying medicine with significant eGFR treatment benefit observed across the entire study population that can substantially delay onset of dialysis for patients at risk,” said Rogers Yongqing Luo, Chief Executive Officer of Everest Medicines. “As IgAN prevalence in Asia is much higher than the rest of the world, we look forward to receiving NDA decision for Nefecon® in mainland China in the second half year and filing NDAs in other Asian territories as soon as possible.”

The sNDA is based on the full data set from the Phase 3 NefIgArd clinical trial, a randomized, double-blind, multicenter study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Nefecon® at a once-daily dose of 16 mg, compared to placebo, in adult patients with primary IgAN on optimized RASi therapy. The full data from the NeflgArd Phase 3 trial was published in The Lancet in August 2023.

The trial demonstrated a statistically significant benefit of Nefecon® over placebo (p-value < 0.0001) in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over the two-year study period, which consisted of nine months of treatment with Nefecon® or placebo, followed by a 15-month follow-up period off the study drug. The data reflected treatment benefits across the entire study population, regardless of UPCR baseline, and showed a difference between TARPEYO and placebo in 2-year eGFR total slope of approximately 3mL/min per year using a robust regression method of analysis.

The China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) accepted Everest’s NDA for Nefecon® for the treatment of IgAN in November 2022, with a decision expected in the second half year of 2023. The NMPA has also granted Nefecon® break-through therapy designation and NDA priority review. Nefecon® was the first non-oncology drug to receive break-through therapy designation in China.

*About Nefecon®*

Nefecon® is a patented oral, delayed release formulation of budesonide, a corticosteroid with potent glucocorticoid activity and weak mineralocorticoid activity that undergoes substantial first pass metabolism. The formulation is designed as a delayed release capsule that is enteric coated so that it remains intact until it releases budesonide to the distal ileum. Each capsule contains coated beads of budesonide that target mucosal B-cells present in the ileum where the disease originates, as per the predominant pathogenesis models.

In June 2019, Everest Medicines entered into an exclusive, royalty-bearing license agreement with Calliditas, which gives Everest Medicines exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Nefecon® in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore. The agreement was extended in March 2022 to include South Korea as part of Everest Medicine’s territories.

Nefecon® was approved in the United States under accelerated approval based on a reduction in proteinuria. Recently announced topline results from the global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 clinical trial NefIgArd demonstrated a statistically significant benefit for Nefecon® over placebo in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of renal function.

*About Everest Medicines*

Everest Medicines is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing transformative pharmaceutical products and vaccines that address critical unmet medical needs for patients in Asian markets. The management team of Everest Medicines has deep expertise and an extensive track record from both leading global pharmaceutical companies and local Chinese pharmaceutical companies in high-quality discovery, clinical development, regulatory affairs, CMC, business development and operations. Everest Medicines has built a portfolio of potentially global first-in-class or best-in-class molecules, many of which are in late-stage clinical development. The Company’s therapeutic areas of interest include renal diseases, infectious diseases, mRNA platform and autoimmune disorders. For more information, please visit its website at www.everestmedicines.com.

*For further information, please contact: *

Investor Relations:
Leah Liu, VP Corporate Affairs
Everest Medicines
IR@everestmedicines.com

Media Inquiries:
Jing Yang, Everest Medicines
jing.yang@everestmedicines.com   

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