‘Fatal’ safety concerns throw doubt on Lemtrada
pharmafile | November 11, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | FDA, Genzyme, Lemtrada, MS, Sanofi
An FDA committee has dashed hopes of an approval for Sanofi’s multiple sclerosis drug after saying its benefits may not outweigh its serious safety risks.
The agency said the drug, made by Sanofi and originally developed by subsidiary Genzyme, has “serious and potentially fatal safety issues,” which include the risk of autoimmune and thyroid diseases.
This may make the treatment too dangerous to approve unless there is substantial clinical benefit shown, the US agency said in a report.
Just as seriously, the FDA committee also questioned whether the French firm conducted adequate trials to prove the annual infusion of its treatment actually works.
This all comes to a head at this Wednesday’s panel meeting, where agency advisers will vote on whether to recommend the drug for approval.
Although the FDA does not have to follow the advice of its committees, any rejection by them would make Lemtrada’s future much more difficult.
Lemtrada has already been given the green light by the European Medicines Agency for advanced forms of MS, but a US approval will be critical for the firm to bring in the bigger sales.
This will be a bitter blow to Sanofi as its $20 billion purchase of Genzyme in 2011 hinged on the prospects of Lemtrada. Analysts have had mixed views on the medicine, ranging from peak annual sales of $150 million to as high as $3 billion.
But the drug which was originally licensed as a treatment for certain blood cancers under the name Campath, would face a growing MS market should it be approved, which includes established medicines such as Biogen Idec’s Tysabri and Teva’s Copaxone, as well as new oral treatments such as Novartis’ Gilenya and Biogen Idec’s Tecfidera.
Seamus Fernandez, an analyst at Leerink Swann, said the FDA’s comments: “Were more negative than expected and highlighted key safety concerns, including a potential seven-fold increase in thyroid cancer cited in the supplementary materials as well as significant questions around the quality and validity of the efficacy package from both the statistical and medical reviewers.”
He went on: “While only have €200 million in 2020 in our model, we believe it will be very challenging for Sanofi/Genzyme to emerge with a positive panel outcome, but more importantly we believe a near-term US approval will be extremely challenging.”
Ben Adams
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