Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Regenxbio is pushing its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy into pivotal development, with a BLA planned for 2026—potentially posing a threat to Sarepta’s Elevidys.
The investigational therapy, vesleteplirsen, had been positioned as an updated version of Sarepta’s original exon 51-skipping Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug Exondys 51.
With Sarepta’s gene therapy Elevidys now available to a majority of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, experts express cautious optimism while emphasizing the need for further data.
Since its inception in 1992, the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway has helped shepherd nearly 300 new drugs to the market. However, recent years have seen a number of high-profile market withdrawals and failed confirmatory trials.
The highly anticipated results come as the company makes significant changes to its C-suite. Despite the turnover, Dyne said it is looking toward expedited approval pathways for its DMD treatment.
While Thursday’s label expansion and traditional approval for the gene therapy is an important milestone, many challenges still face the Duchenne muscular dystrophy community.
On the heels of a Phase III flop for Pfizer’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy candidate, the FDA has green lighted the expanded use of Sarepta Therapeutics’ Elevidys.
Pfizer’s investigational Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy, fordadistrogene movaparvovec, failed in a late-stage study to significantly improve motor function in patients versus placebo.
The FDA has a packed calendar this week, with six decisions on the docket, including ones for Merck’s Keytruda, BMS’s Krazati and Sarepta’s Elevidys.
NS Pharma, a subsidiary of Nippon Shinyaku, announced Monday that its Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate Viltepso failed a late-stage confirmatory trial, showing no significant motor function improvements over placebo.
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