CLINUVEL continues to strengthen its business despite the operating challenges of the pandemic and the world’s largest economic contraction since the Great Depression in 1929. During the December 2020 half year period, CLINUVEL increased access to its drug SCENESSE® (afamelanotide 16mg)1 for patients with the rare metabolic disorder, erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) in both Europe and the USA. SCENESSE® was also approved to be listed on the Australian Therapeutic Goods Register by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in October 2020.
CLINUVEL has expanded its clinical development plans for SCENESSE®, announcing two new clinical programs. The Company’s DNA Repair Program seeks to confirm the drug’s ability to repair ultraviolet-induced DNA damage in patients with the rare disorder xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and healthy volunteers with fair skin. CLINUVEL is also evaluating SCENESSE® in patients with arterial ischaemic stroke (AIS) in the innovative CUV801 study, expected to commence shortly.
In October 2020 CLINUVEL released a Strategic Update, outlining its plans to translate the Company’s melanocortin technology from medicinal products to healthcare solutions for wider audiences. The expanded Group is structured with three divisions – Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare Solutions and Communications, Branding & Marketing – linked by the Research, Development & Innovation Centre at the VALLAURIX subsidiary in Singapore.