FDA approves Trulance for Chronic Idiopathic Constipation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Trulance (plecanatide) for the treatment of Chronic Idiopathic Constipation (CIC) in adult patients.

“No one medication works for all patients suffering from chronic gastrointestinal disorders,” said Julie Beitz, M.D., director of the Office of Drug Evaluation III in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “With the availability of new therapies, patients and their doctors can select the most appropriate treatment for their condition.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated 42 million people are affected by constipation. Chronic idiopathic constipation is a diagnosis given to those who experience persistent constipation and for whom there is no structural or biochemical explanation.

Trulance, taken orally once daily, works locally in the upper GI tract to stimulate secretion of intestinal fluid and support regular bowel function.

The safety and efficacy of Trulance were established in two 12-week, placebo-controlled trials including 1,775 adult participants. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or Trulance, once daily. Participants in the trials were required to have been diagnosed with constipation at least six months prior to the study onset and to have less than three defecations per week in the previous three months, as well as other symptoms associated with constipation. Participants receiving Trulance were more likely to experience improvement in the frequency of complete spontaneous bowel movements than those receiving placebo, and also had improvements in stool frequency and consistency and straining.

Trulance should not be used in children less than six years of age due to the risk of serious dehydration. Trulance should be avoided in patients six years of age to 18 years of age. The safety and effectiveness of Trulance have not been established in patients less than 18 years of age. Trulance should not be used in patients with known or suspected mechanical gastrointestinal obstruction.

The most common and serious side effects of Trulance was diarrhea. Patients may experience severe diarrhea. If severe diarrhea occurs, patients should stop taking Trulance and contact their health care provider.

Trulance is manufactured by New York, New York-based Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

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FDA approves first drug for spinal muscular atrophy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Spinraza (nusinersen), the first drug approved to treat children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare and often fatal genetic disease affecting muscle strength and movement. Spinraza is an injection administered into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord.

“There has been a long-standing need for a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, the most common genetic cause of death in infants, and a disease that can affect people at any stage of life,” said Billy Dunn, M.D., director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “As shown by our suggestion to the sponsor to analyze the results of the study earlier than planned, the FDA is committed to assisting with the development and approval of safe and effective drugs for rare diseases and we worked hard to review this application quickly; we could not be more pleased to have the first approved treatment for this debilitating disease.”

SMA is a hereditary disease that causes weakness and muscle wasting because of the loss of lower motor neurons controlling movement. There is wide variability in age of onset, symptoms and rate of progression. Spinraza is approved for use across the range of spinal muscular atrophy patients.

The FDA worked closely with the sponsor during development to help design and implement the analysis upon which this approval was based. The efficacy of Spinraza was demonstrated in a clinical trial in 121 patients with infantile-onset SMA who were diagnosed before 6 months of age and who were less than 7 months old at the time of their first dose. Patients were randomized to receive an injection of Spinraza, into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, or undergo a mock procedure without drug injection (a skin prick). Twice the number of patients received Spinraza compared to those who underwent the mock procedure. The trial assessed the percentage of patients with improvement in motor milestones, such as head control, sitting, ability to kick in supine position, rolling, crawling, standing and walking.

The FDA asked the sponsor to conduct an interim analysis as a way to evaluate the study results as early as possible; 82 of 121 patients were eligible for this analysis. Forty percent of patients treated with Spinraza achieved improvement in motor milestones as defined in the study, whereas none of the control patients did.

Additional open-label uncontrolled clinical studies were conducted in symptomatic patients who ranged in age from 30 days to 15 years at the time of the first dose, and in presymptomatic patients who ranged in age from 8 days to 42 days at the time of first dose. These studies lacked control groups and therefore were more difficult to interpret than the controlled study, but the findings appeared generally supportive of the clinical efficacy demonstrated in the controlled clinical trial in infantile-onset patients.

The most common side effects found in participants in the clinical trials on Spinraza were upper respiratory infection, lower respiratory infection and constipation. Warnings and precautions include low blood platelet count and toxicity to the kidneys (renal toxicity). Toxicity in the nervous system (neurotoxicity) was observed in animal studies.

The FDA granted this application fast track designation and priority review. The drug also received orphan drug designation, which provides incentives to assist and encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases.

The sponsor is receiving a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher under a program intended to encourage development of new drugs and biologics for the prevention and treatment of rare pediatric diseases. A voucher can be redeemed by a sponsor at a later date to receive priority review of a subsequent marketing application for a different product. This is the eighth rare pediatric disease priority review voucher issued by the FDA since the program began.

Spinraza is marketed by Biogen of Cambridge, Massachusetts and was developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals of Carlsbad, California.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

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