Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it and its partner AnGes, Inc. received marketing approval from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for Zokinvy (lonafarnib), a treatment for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and processing deficient progeroid laminopathy (PDPL). Collectively known as progeria, HGPS and PL are devastating ultra-rare and fatal pediatric diseases that cause dramatically accelerated aging and premature death. The main cause of death is heart attack or stroke due to severe hardening of the arteries.

The approval was based on the positive results of two pivotal clinical trials demonstrating that Zokinvy, an oral disease-modifying agent which targets the cause of progeria, lowered the risk of death in children by 72% and extended life by an average of 4.3 years (p<0.0001) in children and young adults with HGPS.