LONDON, July 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freeline Therapeutics Holdings plc (Nasdaq: FRLN) today announced it will host a virtual Key Opinion Leader (KOL) event on FLT201, its adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy candidate in Gaucher disease Type 1, on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The event will feature Gaucher disease expert, Dr. Reena Sharma, Consultant Adult Metabolic Medicine and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Salford Royal Hospital in the United Kingdom, who will discuss the epidemiology, treatment landscape, and unmet need in Gaucher disease.
The Freeline leadership team will provide a corporate overview and outline the clinical progress of FLT201. Currently, FLT201 is being evaluated in the GALILEO-1 study, a first-in-human, international, multicenter Phase 1/2 dose-escalation trial assessing safety, tolerability and efficacy of a single intravenous dose of FLT201, with the aim of identifying a dose for further development in a Phase 3 clinical trial. Dosing commenced in the trial last month.
A live question and answer session will follow the formal presentations. To access the event, participants may register here. While not required, it is recommended that participants join 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start. A live webcast of the event will be available on the Investors section of Freeline’s website at www.freeline.life. An archived replay will be available on the website for at least 90 days.
About Gaucher Disease
Gaucher disease is caused by a mutation in the GBA1 gene that results in abnormally low levels of glucocerebrosidase (GCase), an enzyme needed to metabolize a certain type of lipid. As a result, harmful substrates glucosylceramide (Gb-1) and glucosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb1) build up in cells that then accumulate in various organs, causing inflammation and dysfunction. Gaucher disease is hereditary and presents in various subtypes. Freeline is currently focused on Gaucher disease type 1, the most common form of the disease, which affects the health of the spleen, liver, bone and lungs. Despite treatment with existing therapies, many people with Gaucher disease continue to experience symptoms and disease progression. Gaucher disease affects approximately 18,000 people in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Israel.
About FLT201
FLT201 is an adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy candidate that is currently being investigated in the GALILEO-1 Phase 1/2 clinical trial in adults with Gaucher disease type 1. FLT201 is designed to generate durable increases in glucocerebrosidase (GCase) and reduce the accumulation of harmful substrates, with the aim of providing a one-time treatment that can stop disease progression, improve outcomes and free people from lifelong treatment. FLT201 uses Freeline’s proprietary AAVS3 capsid to introduce a novel transgene into liver cells to produce a rationally engineered GCase variant. In preclinical studies, the GCase variant has demonstrated a 20-fold increase in half-life at lysosomal pH conditions compared to wildtype human GCase. Preclinically, FLT201 has shown robust GCase expression, as well as significant GCase uptake and substrate reduction in key tissues.
About Freeline Therapeutics
Freeline is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing transformative gene therapies for chronic debilitating diseases. Freeline uses its proprietary, rationally designed AAV vector and capsid (AAVS3), along with novel promoters and transgenes, to deliver a functional copy of a therapeutic gene into human liver cells, thereby expressing a persistent functional level of the missing or dysfunctional protein into a patient’s bloodstream. The company is currently advancing FLT201, a highly differentiated gene therapy candidate that delivers a novel transgene, in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in people with Gaucher disease type 1. Freeline has additional programs in research, including one focused on GBA1-linked Parkinson’s disease that leverages the same novel transgene as FLT201. Freeline is headquartered in the UK and has operations in the United States. For more information, visit www.freeline.life or connect with Freeline on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and any statements of employees of Freeline Therapeutics Holdings plc (the “Company”) related thereto contain or may contain statements that constitute “forward looking statements” as that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements that express opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or projections of the Company regarding future events or future results, in contrast with statements that reflect historical facts. These statements relate to future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “plan,” “seek,” “project,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could” or “should,” the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to the Company, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to many risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties may cause the statements to be inaccurate and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated, or projected. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. A further list and description of risks, uncertainties, and other matters can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and in subsequent reports on Form 6-K, in each case including in the sections thereof captioned “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 3.D. Risk factors.” Many of these risks are outside of the Company’s control and could cause its actual results to differ materially from those it thought would occur. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. The Company does not undertake, and specifically declines, any obligation to update any such statements or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to any such statements to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law. For further information, please reference the Company’s reports and documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). You may review these documents by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Media and Investor Contact:
Naomi Aoki
naomi.aoki@freeline.life
Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
+ 1 617 283 4298
