Drugs

FDA Delays Lilly Alzheimer’s Drug for Panel Review

FDA is continuing to slow roll its review decision on Eli Lilly’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug donanemab by requiring the agency’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss the company’s Phase 3 TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of donanemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. FDA wants to “further understand topics related to evaluating the safety and efficacy of donanemab, including the safety results in donanemab-treated patients and the efficacy implications of the unique trial design of the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 study, including its limited-duration dosing regimen that allowed patients to complete treatment based on an assessment of amyloid plaque and the inclusion of participants based on tau levels,” Lilly says.

In November, Lilly said the FDA review decision had been pushed back to the first quarter of 2024. It had previously expected an agency decision by 12/31. In an 11/2 earnings call, Lilly said FDA asked for more time to evaluate data in the donanemab submission. A date of the advisory committee meeting has not yet been set by the agency, and as a result, the timing of an agency review decision “will be delayed beyond the first quarter of 2024,” the company says.

In July, the company announced full results from the Phase 3 TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 study showing that donanemab significantly slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The data were published 7/17 online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The full results confirmed previously reported data (see earlier story) showing that in study “participants with low-medium levels of tau [protein neurofibrillary tangles] (n=1182), donanemab treatment significantly slowed decline by 35% on iADRS [integrated Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale] and 36% on CDR-SB [Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes],” according to Lilly. “Among all amyloid-positive early symptomatic AD study participants (n=1736), treatment with donanemab significantly slowed decline by 22% on iADRS and 29% on CDR-SB.”

Lilly says donanemab specifically targets deposited amyloid plaque and has been shown to lead to plaque clearance in treated patients. The therapy “significantly reduced amyloid plaque levels regardless of baseline pathological stage of disease,” it said. “Among all participants, treatment with donanemab reduced amyloid plaque on average by 84% at 18 months, compared with a 1% decrease for participants on placebo. Participants were able to stop taking donanemab once they achieved pre-defined criteria of amyloid plaque clearance.”

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA has classified Boston Scientific's recall of its Imager II Angiographic Catheters as Class I because a manufacturing problem could cause catheter tips to degrade and detach, potentially resulting in life-threatening complications. The agency announced the Class I classification 9/25, updating an Early Alert it issued

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome