Pharmaceutical Technology

Biotest wins FDA approval for plasma protein therapy

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Biotest’s Yimmugo for the treatment of primary antibody deficiencies.

Biotest, a subsidiary of Grifols, announced that the US FDA granted approval for its plasma protein therapy Yimmugo earlier today (17 June).

Yimmugo is an intravenous immunoglobulin therapy developed as a substitution therapy for primary antibody deficiency syndromes. The Barcelona, Spain-headquartered company launched the therapy in Europe in late 2022, receiving European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval for production and marketing. Biotest is developing the therapy at a production facility in Dreieich, Germany. The therapy uses a polyvalent immunoglobulin G preparation from human blood plasma for producing intravenous administration (IVIg).

Antibody deficiency syndrome is caused by an immunoglobulin level significantly under the standard range or a failure of immunoglobulin function. The primary form of the condition is developed due to genetic defects that dysregulate B cell development and/or function.

Earlier this year, Biotest announced an 83.6% increase in first-quarter (Q1) sales driven by Yimmugo. The company reported revenues of €215.2m ($230.5m) in Q1 2024, with Yimmugo’s sales jumping from €7.5m to €11.1m.

In a 17 June press release, Peter Janssen, Biotest’s CEO, said: “With this approval, we aim to increase the availability of and access to immunoglobulin therapies worldwide, thereby improving patient care.”

Alongside Yimmugo, Biotest has been developing two other plasma proteins. One of these is a fibrinogen concentrate therapy, AdFIrst (BT524), for the treatment of acquired fibrinogen deficiency. In 2021, Biotest came under Grifols via the acquisition of Tiancheng Pharmaceutical, which owned a majority of the shares in Biotest. Earlier this year, Grifols’ chief scientific innovations officer, Jörg Schüttrumpf, said the company has the capability to manufacture Adfirst in-house.

Grifols released a positive readout from a Phase III AdFIrst study (2017-001163-20) in February 2024, demonstrating that the therapy was non-inferior to the standard of care. Biotest is also developing trimodulin (BT-588), a plasma protein treatment for severe community-acquired pneumonia. The pharma company is currently investigating the therapy in the Phase III ESsCAPE study (NCT05722938).