Approval based on Phase 3 EoE KIDS trial showing a greater proportion of children taking Dupixent achieved histological remission compared to placebo
Expanded indication marks second disease for which Dupixent is approved in children this young, underscoring the commitment to bringing therapies to young patients with significant unmet needs
EoE is one of five FDA-approved indications for Dupixent in the U.S. for which type 2 inflammation is an underlying driver
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. and PARIS, Jan. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and Sanofi today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Dupixent® (dupilumab) for the treatment of pediatric patients aged 1 to 11 years, weighing at least 15 kg, with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Dupixent is now the first and only medicine approved in the U.S. specifically indicated to treat these patients. This approval expands the initial FDA approval for EoE in May 2022 for patients aged 12 years and older, weighing at least 40 kg. The FDA evaluated Dupixent for this expanded indication under Priority Review, which is reserved for medicines that represent potentially significant improvements in efficacy or safety in treating serious conditions.
EoE is a chronic, progressive disease associated with type 2 inflammation that is thought to be responsible for damaging the esophagus and impairing its function. EoE can severely impact a child’s ability to eat, and they may experience heartburn, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, trouble swallowing, food refusal and failure to thrive. These symptoms can adversely impact their growth and development. Continuous treatment of EoE may be needed to reduce the risk of complications and disease progression. Approximately 21,000 children under the age of 12 in the U.S. are currently being treated for EoE with unapproved therapies. However, the actual prevalence of children with this disease is likely higher, given symptoms can be mistaken for other conditions and there are delays in diagnosis.
“Young children are some of the most vulnerable patients with eosinophilic esophagitis, or EoE, as this debilitating and progressive disease threatens their basic ability to eat. Until today, these children had no approved treatment options specifically for EoE, leaving many with unapproved medicines that failed to target the root cause of their disease,” said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Board co-Chair, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Regeneron, and a principal inventor of Dupixent. “With this approval, Dupixent becomes the first and only treatment option for EoE patients aged 1 and older, weighing at least 15 kg. By targeting the underlying type 2 inflammation that contributes to this disease, Dupixent has the potential to transform the standard of care for these children as it has for adults and adolescents with EoE.”
The FDA approval is based on data from the Phase 3 EoE KIDS trial with two parts (Part A and Part B) evaluating the efficacy and safety of Dupixent in children aged 1 to 11 years with EoE. At 16 weeks, 66% of children who received higher dose Dupixent at tiered dosing regimens based on weight (n=32) achieved histological disease remission (≤6 eosinophils/high power field), the primary endpoint, compared to 3% for placebo (n=29). Histological remission was sustained at week 52, with 17 of 32 (53%) children treated with Dupixent in Parts A and B. Histological remission was also achieved at week 52 in 8 of 15 (53%) children who switched to Dupixent from placebo in Part B. In addition, a greater decrease in the proportion of days with one or more signs of EoE based on Pediatric EoE Sign/Symptom Questionnaire-caregiver version (PESQ-C) was observed in children treated with Dupixent at 16 weeks compared to placebo.
“Young children with eosinophilic esophagitis have significant unmet medical needs; despite existing treatment options, 40% of these children in the U.S. under the age of 12 continue to experience symptoms of this disease,” said Naimish Patel, M.D., Head of Global Development, Immunology and Inflammation at Sanofi. “Today’s approval underscores our commitment to bringing therapies to young patients with unmet needs and also brings hope to these patients who are at a critical age where struggling to eat and maintain weight directly impacts their overall nutritional intake and development.”
The safety profile of Dupixent observed through 16 weeks in children aged 1 to 11 years weighing at least 15 kg was generally similar to the safety profile of Dupixent observed through 24 weeks in adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with EoE. The most common adverse events (≥2%) more frequently observed with Dupixent than placebo were injection site reactions, upper respiratory tract infections, arthralgia (joint pain) and herpes viral infections. In EoE KIDS Part B, one case of helminth infection was reported in the Dupixent arm.
About the Dupixent Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Trial
The Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of Dupixent in children aged 1 to 11 years, weighing at least 15 kg, with EoE, as determined by histological, endoscopic and patient- or caregiver-reported measures. At baseline, 97% of these patients had at least one co-existing type 2 inflammatory disease, such as food allergy, allergic rhinitis, asthma and atopic dermatitis.
Part A, a 16-week, double-blind treatment period, enrolled 61 patients and evaluated the safety and efficacy of Dupixent in a tiered, weight-based dosing schema. The primary endpoint was histological disease remission, which was defined as peak esophageal intraepithelial eosinophil count of ≤6 eosinophils (eos)/high power field (hpf). Changes in caregiver-reported symptoms (proportion of days with 1 or more EoE signs [e.g., stomach pain, vomiting, food refusal]) were evaluated using PESQ-C.
Part B was a 36-week extended active treatment period (n=47) in which eligible children from Part A in the Dupixent group continued to receive their dose level and those in the placebo group in Part A switched to Dupixent.
About Dupixent
Dupixent, which was invented using Regeneron’s proprietary VelocImmune® technology, is a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the signaling of the interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) pathways and is not an immunosuppressant. The Dupixent development program has shown significant clinical benefit and a decrease in type 2 inflammation in Phase 3 trials, establishing that IL-4 and IL-13 are key and central drivers of the type 2 inflammation that plays a major role in multiple related and often co-morbid diseases. These diseases include approved indications for Dupixent, such as atopic dermatitis, asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP), prurigo nodularis and EoE.
Dupixent has received regulatory approvals in one or more countries around the world for use in certain patients with atopic dermatitis, asthma, CRSwNP, EoE, and prurigo nodularis in different age populations. Dupixent is currently approved for one or more of these indications in more than 60 countries, including in Europe, the U.S. and Japan. More than 800,000 patients are being treated with Dupixent globally.
About Regeneron’s VelocImmune Technology
Regeneron’s VelocImmune technology utilizes a proprietary genetically engineered mouse platform endowed with a genetically humanized immune system to produce optimized fully human antibodies. When Regeneron’s co-Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer George D. Yancopoulos was a graduate student with his mentor Frederick W. Alt in 1985, they were the first to envision making such a genetically humanized mouse, and Regeneron has spent decades inventing and developing VelocImmune and related VelociSuite® technologies. Dr. Yancopoulos and his team have used VelocImmune technology to create a substantial proportion of all original, FDA-approved or authorized fully human monoclonal antibodies. This includes REGEN-COV® (casirivimab and imdevimab), Dupixent, Libtayo® (cemiplimab-rwlc), Praluent® (alirocumab), Kevzara® (sarilumab), Evkeeza® (evinacumab-dgnb), Inmazeb® (atoltivimab, maftivimab and odesivimab-ebgn) and Veopoz™ (pozelimab-bbfg).
Dupilumab Development Program
Dupilumab is being jointly developed by Regeneron and Sanofi under a global collaboration agreement. To date, dupilumab has been studied across more than 60 clinical trials involving more than 10,000 patients with various chronic diseases driven in part by type 2 inflammation.
In addition to the currently approved indications, Regeneron and Sanofi are studying dupilumab in a broad range of diseases driven by type 2 inflammation or other allergic processes in Phase 3 trials, including chronic pruritus of unknown origin, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with evidence of type 2 inflammation, and bullous pemphigoid. These potential uses of dupilumab are currently under clinical investigation, and the safety and efficacy in these conditions have not been fully evaluated by any regulatory authority.
U.S. INDICATIONS
DUPIXENT is a prescription medicine used:
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Do not use if you are allergic to dupilumab or to any of the ingredients in DUPIXENT®.
Before using DUPIXENT, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical conditions, including if you:
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
Especially tell your healthcare provider if you are taking oral, topical, or inhaled corticosteroid medicines; have asthma and use an asthma medicine; or have atopic dermatitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis, eosinophilic esophagitis, or prurigo nodularis and also have asthma. Do not change or stop your corticosteroid medicine or other asthma medicine without talking to your healthcare provider. This may cause other symptoms that were controlled by the corticosteroid medicine or other asthma medicine to come back.
DUPIXENT can cause serious side effects, including:
The most common side effects include:
Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.
These are not all the possible side effects of DUPIXENT. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Use DUPIXENT exactly as prescribed by your healthcare provider. It’s an injection given under the skin (subcutaneous injection). Your healthcare provider will decide if you or your caregiver can inject DUPIXENT. Do not try to prepare and inject DUPIXENT until you or your caregiver have been trained by your healthcare provider. In children 12 years of age and older, it’s recommended DUPIXENT be administered by or under supervision of an adult. In children 6 months to less than 12 years of age, DUPIXENT should be given by a caregiver.
Please see accompanying full Prescribing Information including Patient Information.
About Regeneron
Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading biotechnology company that invents, develops and commercializes life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Founded and led for over 35 years by physician-scientists, our unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to numerous FDA-approved treatments and product candidates in development, almost all of which were homegrown in our laboratories. Our medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, hematologic conditions, infectious diseases and rare diseases.
Regeneron is accelerating and improving the traditional drug development process through our proprietary VelociSuite® technologies, such as VelocImmune®, which uses unique genetically humanized mice to produce optimized fully human antibodies and bispecific antibodies, and through ambitious research initiatives such as the Regeneron Genetics Center, which is conducting one of the largest genetics sequencing efforts in the world.
For more information about Regeneron, please visit www.Regeneron.com or follow Regeneron on LinkedIn.
About Sanofi
We are an innovative global healthcare company, driven by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. Our team, across some 100 countries, is dedicated to transforming the practice of medicine by working to turn the impossible into the possible. We provide potentially life-changing treatment options and life-saving vaccine protection to millions of people globally, while putting sustainability and social responsibility at the center of our ambitions.
Sanofi is listed on EURONEXT: SAN and NASDAQ: SNY.
Regeneron Forward-Looking Statements and Use of Digital Media
This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties relating to future events and the future performance of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron” or the “Company”), and actual events or results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,” variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. 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Regeneron uses its media and investor relations website and social media outlets to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Regeneron is routinely posted and is accessible on Regeneron’s media and investor relations website (https://investor.regeneron.com) and its LinkedIn page (https://www.linkedin.com/company/regeneron-pharmaceuticals).
Sanofi Disclaimers or Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates regarding the marketing and other potential of the product, or regarding potential future revenues from the product. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expects”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “plans” and similar expressions. Although Sanofi’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays, or government regulation generally, that could affect the availability or commercial potential of the product, the fact that product may not be commercially successful, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including future clinical data and analysis of existing clinical data relating to the product, including post marketing, unexpected safety, quality or manufacturing issues, competition in general, risks associated with intellectual property and any related future litigation and the ultimate outcome of such litigation, and volatile economic and market conditions, and the impact that pandemics or other global crises may have on us, our customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners, and the financial condition of any one of them, as well as on our employees and on the global economy as a whole. The risks and uncertainties also include the uncertainties discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Sanofi’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.
| Regeneron Contacts: | |
| Media Relations Ilana Yellen Tel: +1 914-330-9618 Ilana.Yellen@regeneron.com |
Investor Relations Vesna Tosic Tel: +1 914-847-5443 Vesna.Tosic@regeneron.com |
| Sanofi Contacts: | |
| Media Relations Sally Bain Tel: +1 617-834-6026 Sally.Bain@sanofi.com Evan Berland Victor Rouault |
Investor Relations Eva Schaefer-Jansen Tel: +33 7 86 80 56 39 Eva.Schaefer-Jansen@sanofi.com Arnaud Delepine Corentine Driancourt Felix Lauscher Tarik Elgoutni Nathalie Pham |
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