After many months of shortages affecting attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs, it was hoped that new generics to Takeda’s Vyvanse would ease the supply situation. But according to a letter from the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), production limits on the drug’s active ingredient—set by the government—are at least partly to blame for the shortage that has spread to the generics. Generic drugmakers haven’t been able to obtain enough raw material to “launch their products at full commercial scale,” AAM wrote to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), according to Bloomberg. The DEA sets specific restrictions on production to avoid an excess of supply that could spread to the black market due to Vyvanse’s status as a controlled substance. The agency sets its limits based on past production levels and future sales commitments, which poses a problem given that some companies are cleared to launch the generics but haven’t sold any so ...
Debates across Europe are needed to ensure that other global markets do not overtake it following the infamous EU Pharmaceutical Legislation, says Ricardo Marek, president of the Europe and Canada business unit at Takeda. Speaking at the opening day of the FT Global Pharma and Biotech Summit in London, Marek noted how the reformed legislation, which was released by the European Commission (EC) in April, will establish the next few decades of the European market. While the new legislation shifts focus to garnering equal access to new medicines across the EU, certain policies may stifle innovation in the region. For example, there will be a shorter regulatory data protection period, meaning generic drug makers will not be able to refer to innovator drug’s data to obtain marketing authorisation. Also, approved drugs must be launched in all EU countries within two years. In the panel “Macro Focus – How is Pharma ...
In a span of three days, Phathom Pharmaceuticals has scored two green lights from the FDA for its first-in-class heartburn drug Voquezna (vonoprazan). The first came Monday when the regulator signed off on Phathom’s reformulation of Voquezna to treat Helicobacter pylori infection. The second came Wednesday when the FDA blessed Voquezna for gastroesophageal reflux disease erosive esophagitis (erosive GERD) and associated heartburn. Two approvals for the same compound in a week is unusual. The FDA originally endorsed Voquezna for H. pylori in May of last year, but then it put Phathom’s launch plans on hold when trace levels of a cancer-causing agent were discovered in commercial batches of the treatment. That initial approval was later revoked. During the impurity-related holdup, the FDA also iced Phathom’s application for approval for erosive GERD. In April, after receiving complete response letters for both applications, Phathom said that it had shown the FDA stability ...
By Tristan Manalac Pictured: Woman grasping her stomach in pain/iStock, Doucefleur New data from the Phase IIa EMERALD-1 study showed that Morphic Therapeutic’s investigational ulcerative colitis pill MORF-057 induced endoscopic improvement, the company announced Friday. However, investors were underwhelmed with the candidate’s new efficacy findings and Morphic’s stock price dropped around 25% after the data was released. The new data, presented in a moderated poster session at the United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW) 2023, showed that at 12 weeks, 25.7% of treated patients demonstrated endoscopic improvement. Clinical response, measured using the modified Mayo Clinic Score (mMCS), was documented in 45.7% of participants at 12 weeks. The UEGW data follow a prior readout from EMERALD-1, posted in April 2023, which showed that patients treated with MORF-057 saw a significant 6.4-point improvement in the Robarts Histopathology Index, a validated tool that measures histological disease activity in ulcerative colitis. This was accompanied by ...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Takeda’s biologics license application (BLA) for the company’s investigational subcutaneous administration of Entyvio (vedolizumab) for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. The BLA, which is for maintenance therapy of moderate to severe active forms of the disease after induction therapy with IV vedolizumab, will now be reviewed by the FDA alongside a separate BLA submitted by Takeda for the same formulation indicated for ulcerative colitis treatment. Dr Vijay Yajnik, vice president and head of US Medical for Gastroenterology at Takeda said in a statement: “With two applications for a subcutaneous option of Entyvio now under FDA review, we remain firm in our commitment to the inflammatory bowel disease community—adults with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease—and the healthcare professionals actively managing their care.” Takeda submitted the most recent BLA with data from a Phase III clinical trial demonstrating that Entyvio led to a ...
Biopharma M&A is on an uptick compared to the post-pandemic doldrums of the last two years. Analysts anticipate that the trend will continue in 2023 and into 2024 as companies attempt to beef up their portfolios.During second quarter earnings calls, many heavy-hitters—including Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck—expressed urgency in their quest for deals. With so many buyers in competition, sellers are finding offers that are more attractive. For example, Merck’s $10.8 billion proposal to acquire Prometheus in April came at a 75% premium. In July, Biogen’s $7.3 billion deal for Reata represented a 59% markup. “There’s been such a consistent pick up in momentum in anything above a billion [dollars],” Cody Powers, an M&A expert with ZS Principal, said in an interview. “I think we’re back on the gravy train of where we were a couple of years ago in terms of premiums.” In 2019, the industry ...
After a groundbreaking approval for Tecentriq, Roche has another positive early-stage lung cancer trial to celebrate. This time, the honor belongs to a targeted therapy in Alecensa. Alecensa, compared with chemotherapy, reduced the risk of tumor recurrence or death when used after surgery in certain non-small cell lung cancer patients, Roche said Friday. The patients had ALK-positive, stage 1b to 3a tumors that were completely resected before taking Alecensa. The positive readout, from the ALINA trial, makes Alecensa the first ALK inhibitor to show a benefit in early-stage NSCLC in a phase 3 trial, Roche noted. Data on patient survival remain immature. But the Swiss pharma said it’ll submit the results to the FDA and the European Medicines Agency for a potential label expansion. “If approved, Alecensa has the potential to treat cancer before it has spread in a setting where treatment can increase the chances of cure,” Roche’s chief ...
With Xspray Pharma and Eversana’s cancer med hitting a regulatory setback, a launch in the second half of 2023 now looks unlikely. That’s good news for Bristol Myers Squibb, which has secured a few more competition-free months for its aging leukemia blockbuster Sprycel. Swedish drugmaker Xspray has received an FDA complete response letter on its application for its first product Dasynoc. In issuing the rejection, the FDA requested additional information on the drug’s dosing plus greater clarity around a third-party manufacturing facility. Xspray is seeking an FDA nod for Dasynoc to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL). Despite issuing the rejection, Xspray said the FDA signed off on “critical aspects” of the application and did not identify any deficiencies pertaining to the drug’s stability or clinical data, the company said in a release Tuesday. Xspray is positioning its drug as a rival to BMS’ Sprycel, which clinched its first approval in CML back ...
Earlier this year, when Astellas announced that Naoki Okamura was taking over as CEO, the Japanese company said that 2023 was the right time for it to “go on the aggressive to further stimulate growth.”It took Okamura less than a month into his tenure—which began April 1—to act on the company’s game plan. On April 29, he struck the largest acquisition in Astellas’ history, a $5.9 billion buyout of Iveric Bio. With the New Jersey-based biotech two months away from an FDA decision on its geographic atrophy (GA) eye disease candidate Zimura, Astellas hopes to become a major player in a new arena. “We had been closely watching the lead program for Iveric for a very long time, probably seven, eight years,” Okamura said in an interview with Fierce Pharma. “Because the modality of that project is very new to us, we were kind of hesitant to do any partnerships ...
Legend Biotech and Johnson & Johnson are moving fast in their efforts to forward their CAR-T standout Carvykti.Two days after presenting remarkable data from a phase 3 trial in multiple myeloma at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, the companies have filed with the FDA for expanded use of the cell therapy. After gaining approval 16 months ago for Carvykti to treat multiple myeloma patients following four or more lines of therapy, the companies hope to get the U.S. regulator to sign off on its use at an earlier stage of treatment. Specifically, Legend and J&J submitted an application seeking an approval to treat patients with relapsed and lenalidomide-refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior line of therapy, including a protease inhibitor, such as Takeda’s Velclade, and an immunomodulatory agent, such as Bristol Myers Squibb’s Revlimid. With such an approval, Carvytki could leapfrog BMS’ multiple ...
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