On June 29, 2018 Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ) reported that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation of Vyxeos 44 mg/100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed, therapy-related acute myeloid leukaemia (t-AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) (Press release, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, JUN 29, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2356615 [SID1234527512]). Vyxeos is an advanced liposomal formulation that delivers a fixed-ratio (1:5) of daunorubicin and cytarabine.
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"Jazz is committed to bringing new and clinically meaningful treatment options to patients on a global basis, and we now look forward to bringing Vyxeos to adults with AML in the European Union," said Allen Yang, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, hematology/oncology therapeutic area head, and acting chief medical officer at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. "If approved by the European Commission, Vyxeos will become the first chemotherapy treatment option specifically for European patients with therapy-related AML or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes."
The Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for Vyxeos includes clinical data from five studies, including the pivotal Phase 3 study. Data from the Phase 3 study, which met its primary endpoint, were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in June 2016.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals filed a MAA for Vyxeos in November 2017 after the CHMP granted accelerated assessment, which is designed to reduce the review timeline for products of major interest for public health and therapeutic innovation. The positive opinion from the CHMP will be reviewed by the European Commission, which has the authority to approve medicines in all European Union Member States, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
About Vyxeos
Vyxeos 44 mg/100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion is an advanced liposomal formulation that delivers a fixed-ratio (1:5) of daunorubicin and cytarabine to the bone marrow that has been shown to have synergistic effects at killing leukaemia cells in vitro and in animal models. Vyxeos is the first product developed with the company’s proprietary CombiPlex platform, which enables the design and rapid evaluation of various combinations of therapies. Vyxeos received Orphan Drug Designation by the European Commission in January 2012 and by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2008 for the treatment of AML. Vyxeos received Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) designation from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom. Vyxeos received U.S. FDA approval and orphan drug exclusivity on August 3, 2017 for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC.
About CombiPlex
The CombiPlex proprietary technology enables the design and rapid evaluation of various combinations of therapies to deliver enhanced anti-cancer activity. The CombiPlex technology seeks to identify the most synergistic ratio of drugs in vitro and fix this ratio in a nano-scale delivery complex that maintains the synergistic combination after administration. CombiPlex utilizes two proprietary nano-scale delivery platforms: liposomes to control the release and distribution of water-soluble drugs and drugs that are both water- and fat-soluble (amphipathic), and nanoparticles to control the release and distribution of non-water-soluble (hydrophobic) drugs.
About AML
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, which produces most of the body’s new blood cells.1 AML cells crowd out healthy cells and move aggressively into the bloodstream to spread cancer to other parts of the body.2 The median age at diagnosis is 68 years old, with rising age associated with a progressively worsening prognosis.3-4 There is also a reduced tolerance for intensive chemotherapy as patients age.5 Patients with t-AML or AML-MRC have few treatment options and some of the lowest survival rates compared to people with other forms of leukaemia.6-7 A hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) may be a curative treatment option for patients.8