Roche today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for Hemlibra® (emicizumab-kxwh) for adults and children with haemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors. The sBLA is based on data from the phase III HAVEN 3 study. The FDA is expected to make a decision on approval by 4 October 2018.
“People with haemophilia A can face significant challenges in managing their condition and may need to adapt their daily lives to avoid bleeds and accommodate treatment,” said Sandra Horning, MD, Roche’s Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development. “We believe the FDA’s decision to grant Priority Review to Hemlibra underscores its potential to improve the standard of care for people without factor VIII inhibitors and to help reduce treatment burden by offering more flexible subcutaneous dosing options. We look forward to working with the FDA to hopefully bring Hemlibra to all people with haemophilia A as quickly as possible.”
In the HAVEN 3 study, adults and adolescents aged 12 years or older with haemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors who received Hemlibra prophylaxis every week or every two weeks showed a 96% (p<0.0001) and 97% (p<0.0001) reduction in treated bleeds, respectively, compared to those who received no prophylaxis. In an additional arm of the study, people who had previously received factor VIII prophylaxis in a non-interventional study switched to Hemlibra prophylaxis, allowing for an intra-patient comparison of two prophylaxis regimens. Based on the intra-patient comparison, Hemlibra demonstrated a statistically significant reduction of 68% (p<0.0001) in treated bleeds, making it the first medicine to show superior efficacy to prior treatment with factor VIII prophylaxis, the standard of care. There were no unexpected or serious adverse events (AEs) related to Hemlibra in the HAVEN 3 study, and the most common AEs were consistent with previous studies. The most common AEs occurring in 5% or more of people in the HAVEN 3 study were injection site reactions, joint pain (arthralgia), common cold symptoms (nasopharyngitis), headache, upper respiratory tract infection and influenza. Results from the HAVEN 3 study were presented at the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) 2018 World Congress in May.
Priority Review designation is granted to medicines that the FDA has determined to have the potential to provide significant improvements in the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of a serious disease. The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Hemlibra in people with haemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors in April 2018 based on data from the HAVEN 3 study. Breakthrough Therapy Designation is designed to expedite the development and review of medicines intended to treat a serious condition with preliminary evidence that indicates they may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies. Data from the HAVEN 3 study have also been submitted for approval consideration to the European Medicines Agency. Submissions with other regulatory authorities around the world are ongoing.
Hemlibra was approved by the FDA in November 2017 for routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adults and children with haemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors based on results from the HAVEN 1 and HAVEN 2 studies. Hemlibra was also recently approved by regulatory authorities in other countries around the world, including by the European Commission in February 2018 for routine prophylaxis of bleeding episodes in people with haemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors.
About HAVEN 3 (NCT02847637)
HAVEN 3 is a randomised, multicentre, open-label, phase III study evaluating the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of Hemlibra prophylaxis versus no prophylaxis (episodic/on-demand factor VIII treatment) in people with haemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors. The study included 152 patients with haemophilia A (12 years of age or older) who were previously treated with factor VIII therapy either on-demand or for prophylaxis. Patients previously treated with on-demand factor VIII were randomised in a 2:2:1 fashion to receive subcutaneous Hemlibra prophylaxis at 3 mg/kg/wk for 4 weeks, followed by 1.5 mg/kg/wk until the end of study (Arm A), subcutaneous Hemlibra prophylaxis at 3 mg/kg/wk for 4 weeks, followed by 3 mg/kg/2wks for at least 24 weeks (Arm B), or no prophylaxis (Arm C). Patients previously treated with factor VIII prophylaxis received subcutaneous Hemlibra prophylaxis at 3 mg/kg/wk for 4 weeks, followed by 1.5 mg/kg/wk until the end of study (Arm D). Episodic treatment of breakthrough bleeds with factor VIII therapy was allowed per protocol.
