ZUG, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The European Commission (EC) has granted a standard marketing authorization for FAMPYRA (prolonged-release fampridine tablets) for walking improvement in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) announced today. The approval is based on the results of the Phase 3 ENHANCE study, which confirm the clinically meaningful benefits and safety of FAMPYRA over the long term in people with both relapsing and progressive forms of MS. The ENHANCE study was conducted following the EC’s conditional marketing authorization for FAMPYRA in 2011. FAMPYRA can be used alone or with existing MS therapies, including immunomodulatory drugs.
“Approximately 80 percent of people with MS experience walking impairment, one of the most common issues with the disease. We frequently hear from people living with MS that these walking challenges affect their independence, restrict their ability to work and negatively impact their overall quality of life,” said Jeremy Hobart, Ph.D., consultant neurologist at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust and professor of Clinical Neurology and Health Measurement at the Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry. “Results from the ENHANCE study provided additional evidence that FAMPYRA is an effective treatment for MS and echo what I and other clinicians have observed in treating people with MS: FAMPYRA provides a clinically significant improvement in walking ability as well as on broader aspects of quality of life.”
ENHANCE Results Reaffirm Clinically Meaningful Benefits of FAMPYRA
Biogen
initiated ENHANCE, the third Phase 3 study for FAMPYRA, to evaluate the
long-term safety and efficacy of the therapy in walking improvement in
people with MS who have walking disabilities (as measured by Expanded
Disability Status Scores [EDSS] of 4.0 – 7.0). ENHANCE, the largest and
longest randomized trial of FAMPYRA, included patients with
primary-progressive, secondary-progressive, progressive-relapsing and
relapsing-remitting MS. Results, first reported in 2016, show that over
24 weeks:
- Significantly more FAMPYRA patients achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in walking ability compared to patients taking placebo (43.2% vs. 33.6%, respectively; p=0.006), as measured by the self-reported 12-Item MS Walking Scale (MSWS-12), the primary endpoint.
- Significantly more FAMPYRA patients experienced improved mobility compared to those taking placebo, as measured by a mean improvement in the clinician-reported timed up and go (TUG) speed from baseline (43.4% vs. 34.7%, respectively; p=0.03).
- FAMPYRA patients demonstrated greater improvements in the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29 (MSIS-29) physical score, a self-reported measure of the physical impact of MS, than those treated with placebo (-8.00 vs. -4.68, respectively; p<0.001).
- The positive effects of FAMPYRA on improving balance and upper limb dexterity compared to placebo were also observed; however, these results were not statistically significant.
- The benefit-risk profile of FAMPYRA remains positive.
“FAMPYRA is a valued medication among MS patients and physicians that addresses one of the most prevalent and disruptive symptoms of the disease. For the past several years, Biogen has been focused on ensuring that FAMPYRA is available to MS patients in Europe who experience walking disability,” said Ferenc Tracik, M.D., vice president, EU+ Medical Affairs. “The approval of the standard marketing authorization for FAMPYRA is validation of the substantial difference this therapy has made on the lives of people with MS, and speaks to our deep, long-standing commitment to the MS community.”
About FAMPYRA®
FAMPYRA® (prolonged-release
fampridine tablets) is a treatment indicated to improve walking in adult
patients with MS. Biogen has a license from Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. to
develop and commercialise FAMPYRA in all markets outside the United
States.
FAMPYRA is the first treatment to both address the unmet medical need of walking improvement in adults living with MS, and demonstrate clinical efficacy in adults with MS. FAMPYRA can be used alone or in combination with disease modifying therapies, including immunomodulatory drugs. In clinical trials, patients responding to FAMPYRA had an average increase in walking speed of 25 percent and FAMPYRA was shown to provide a clinically meaningful improvement in walking.
The highest incidence of adverse reactions identified from placebo-controlled trials in MS patients with FAMPYRA, given at the recommended dose, was urinary tract infection (in approximately 12% of patients), although infection was often not proven by culture. Adverse drug reactions identified were mainly divided between neurological disorders (such as insomnia, balance disorder, dizziness, paraesthesia, headache, anxiety and tremor) and gastrointestinal disorders (including nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia and constipation). Other common adverse drug reactions reported were asthenia, back pain, pharyngolaryngeal pain and dyspnea. In post-marketing experience, there have been reports of seizures, hypersensitivity reactions (including anaphylaxis) and exacerbations of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in patients with a history of TN. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.
For further information on FAMPYRA in your country please click here.
U.S. residents: For information, please visit Acorda Therapeutics.
About Biogen
Through cutting-edge science and medicine,
Biogen discovers, develops and delivers innovative therapies worldwide
for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative
diseases. Founded in 1978, Biogen is a pioneer in biotechnology and
today the Company has the leading portfolio of medicines to treat
multiple sclerosis, has introduced the first and only approved treatment
for spinal muscular atrophy, and is at the forefront of neurology
research for conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s
disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Biogen also manufactures and
commercializes biosimilars of advanced biologics. For more information,
please visit www.biogen.com.
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