BRIEF—Mereo's brittle bone disease drug gets PRIME status

UK-based rare and specialty diseases specialist Mereo BioPharma (AIM: MPH) has had its drug for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, granted PRIority MEdicines (PRIME) designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

BPS-804 is currently being tested in a Phase IIb trial in adult patients with OI, a debilitating disease for which there is no approved treatment in the USA or Europe.

It will now benefit from the advantages that the PRIME program brings, including ongoing advice from the EMA, with the potential for accelerated regulatory assessment in Europe.

BPS-804 for OI has also  been accepted into the EMA’s Adaptive Pathways Program and has been granted orphan drug status in both the USA and Europe.