Precision medicine is becoming a reality in Asia Pacific as more targeted therapies are being developed that are tailored to individual patients, offering a potential cure for disease. But is Asia Pacific ready to harness this transformation, and if not, what are the hurdles that need to be cleared? A new report by LEK Consulting examines Asia Pacific’s readiness for what it calls the “Precision Era,” and examines four key biopharma markets in Australia, China, Japan and South Korea.
The news that Vinay Prasad has stepped down as CBER director at the U.S. FDA had some biotech stocks literally jumping in joy as the market opened July 30. Meanwhile, Prasad’s decisions regarding vaccine development, as well as actions by Makary and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy, are coming under fire.
An experimental gene therapy based on the prime editing technique could become an effective treatment for alternating hemiplegia of childhood, a severe and currently incurable rare disease. David Liu’s lab at the Broad Institute, the inventor of this gene edition methodology, together with scientists from The Jackson Laboratory, successfully reversed the effects of five mutations associated with this disorder in a mouse model.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s adventure with the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) AAV-based gene therapy Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec) continued as the firm said it would restart shipments of the compound for ambulatory patients “imminently,” with the U.S. FDA’s blessing.
Neurogene Inc.’s disclosure June 30 of its registrational trial design in Rett syndrome (RS) added spice to the space, where Taysha Gene Therapies Inc. is another closely watched player. The New York-based firm said Embolden will test NGN-401, a gene therapy for the treatment of females age 3 and older with RS. U.S. regulators have signed off regarding key aspects of Embolden’s structure.
In an about-face, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. said it would “voluntarily and temporarily” pause all shipments of Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec) in the U.S. The move comes only a few days after the firm publicly declined a U.S. FDA request to halt shipping of the therapy in the wake of a third patient death, this one linked to a gene therapy using the same adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector as Elevidys.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. is declining a U.S. FDA request to voluntarily halt shipping its gene therapy, Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), in the U.S. On July 18, Sarepta said had it received “an informal request” from the FDA to stop the shipments following a third patient’s death, tied to the gene therapy SRP-9004, which uses the same vector as Elevidys.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. made known a third gene therapy death, this time with SRP-9004 for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. The patient was a late-stage, non-ambulatory 51-year-old man participating in the phase I Discovery trial, who expired about a month ago of acute liver failure, as did the two previous subjects who passed away after they were treated with Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), Cambridge, Mass.-based Sarepta’s gene product for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Carving out $400 million in annual cost savings is going over well with Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s investors, as the company’s stock got a 19.6% boost on July 17. Its big seller, the gene therapy Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), continued its revenue numbers decline, so Sarepta chopped operating expenses by letting about 500 employees go in a 36% cutback and pared its development path.
A total of 33 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, agreed to participate in the U.S. CMS’ voluntary, outcomes-based program aimed at helping state Medicaid programs cover high-priced cell and gene therapies, starting with therapies for sickle cell disease.
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