Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL), a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of novel oncolytic immunotherapies, today announced that the company received a complete response letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Company's Biologics License Application (BLA) for RP1 in combination with nivolumab for the treatment of advanced melanoma.

Replimune disagrees with the FDA about whether the data set, upon which breakthrough therapy designation was awarded, is sufficient to allow this promising medicine to be made available to advanced cancer patients. In the IGNYTE trial, patients with confirmed progression on an anti-PD-1 based regimen who received RP1 plus nivolumab had a 34% response rate with a median duration of 24.8 months with a favorable safety profile.

"It is deeply disappointing that the FDA has not exercised regulatory flexibility to meet patients' needs given the data supporting strong efficacy and the favorable safety profile. Approximately 8,500 Americans with advanced melanoma die every year. The country's foremost melanoma specialists stood behind the RP1 data. Patients and caregivers pleaded for urgency. All of it was met with inconsistent communication and a fragmented and slow-moving regulatory process which clearly puts U.S. innovation at risk," said Sushil Patel, Ph.D., CEO of Replimune. "As we previously communicated, without timely accelerated approval, the development of RP1 will not be viable. We are devastated for our committed employees who have worked tirelessly for patients but at this point we have no choice but to eliminate jobs, including substantially scaling back our U.S. based manufacturing operations. A treatment desperately needed by patients will not be available. Not because the medicine failed. Because the system did."