There are plenty of companies chasing the first U.S. FDA-approved treatment for the ultra-rare disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), but Ipsen SA stayed the course longer and won that approval Aug. 16 with Sohonos (palovarotene). Other companies have struggled to develop a treatment for FOP, which affects about 400 people in the U.S. and about 900 people worldwide. Some potential competitors are still in the clinic, trying to catch up.
After nearly 10 years in clinical development and just a few months after an EMA rejection, Ipsen SA will be making its case June 28 before a U.S. FDA advisory committee for its ultra-rare bone disease drug, palovarotene.
Where European regulatory decisions were concerned, there was good news and bad news for pharma today as Sanofi SA and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. got the go-ahead for expanded approval of Dupixent (dupilumab) in pediatric atopic dermatitis patients whilst Ipsen SA’s ultra-rare bone disease drug palovarotene was left off the shelf as efficacy data failed to impress.
Shares in Ipsen SA edged higher June 29 after the firm announced it had refiled its palovarotene NDA with the U.S. FDA for the ultra-rare disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. The regulator granted a six-month priority review for the drug, which was once written off and had its FDA filing pulled in 2021 after officials asked for further analyses and data.
DUBLIN – Ipsen SA is on track for an NDA filing for palovarotene in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), an ultra-rare disease characterized by the gradual replacement of skeletal muscle and connective tissue with bone, following an interim analysis of phase III data which indicates that the drug may have a substantial effect on the disease process.
Keros Therapeutics Inc. CEO Jasbir Seehra told BioWorld that he plans to use at his new company lessons learned as co-founder of Acceleron Pharma Inc., where work with receptors in the TGF-beta superfamily “taught me the potential of the biology and those molecules, but also the limitations” with regard to safety that need to be surmounted.
Expectations that a phase III trial of Ipsen SA's palovarotene will miss its primary endpoint of reducing abnormal bone growth among people with a rare bone disorder led the company to pause dosing in that study and another as it evaluates next steps.
News of a partial FDA clinical hold for pediatric patients after safety reports from an ongoing trial testing palovarotene in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) identified cases of early growth plate closure sent shares of Ipsen SA (Paris:IPN) falling 13.6% Friday.