Bicycle Therapeutics plc announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation (FTD) to Bicycle's BT8009 monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. BT8009 is a potential first in class Bicycle Toxin Conjugate (BTC®) targeting Nectin-4, a protein that is highly expressed in urothelial cancer (UC) and other solid tumors. FTD is intended to facilitate and expedite development and review of new drugs to address unmet medical need in the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition.

This unmet medical need is defined as providing a therapy where either none exists or providing a therapy which may prove superior to existing therapy. A clinical program that receives FTD may benefit from more frequent meetings and communications with the FDA to discuss development plans and ensure the collection of appropriate data needed to support approval. Clinical programs conducted under FTD may be eligible for Accelerated Approval and Priority Review if relevant criteria are met.