Soon after GSK gained traction with a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fast track designation for its investigational treatment bepirovirsen for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), Gilead Sciences has strengthened its position in the indication with an FDA approval for Vemlidy (tenofovir alafenamide) to treat paediatric patients.
The once daily 25mg tablets have been greenlit to treat patients with chronic HBV with compensated liver disease that are six years and older and weigh at least 25kg.
The supplemental new drug application (sNDA) approval was based on data from the ongoing Phase II Study 1092 (NCT02932150), comparing the safety and efficacy of 25mg Vemlidy to placebo in 88 treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced patients with chronic HBV. As per a 28 March press release, patients treated with Vemlidy and those that switched to open-label Vemlidy after week 24 demonstrated “progressive increases in rates of virological suppression” by week 96.
“The expanded indication for Vemlidy for the treatment of children as young as six years old is a testament to the safety, tolerability and efficacy profile of this therapy,” said Dr. Frank Duff, Gilead’s senior vice president of the virology therapeutic area, in the announcement. The pharma giant aims to continue addressing unmet treatment needs for children, he added.
Vemlidy, a small molecule nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor, was first FDA approved in 2016 as a treatment for adults with chronic HBV and gained its first label expansion in 2022 to treat patients aged 12 years and older with compensated liver disease. The product is marketed with a boxed warning for post-treatment severe acute exacerbation of hepatitis B.
GlobalData’s drugs database forecasts that the hepatitis B treatment market will significantly increase over the next six years to reach $10.5bn in 2029, with analysts predicting a compound annual growth rate of 30%. According to the analysts, 71% of the sales in 2022 were attributed to Vemlidy and SciClone Pharmaceuticals’ Zadaxin, a synthetic polypeptide, indicating market dominance. GlobalData’s consensus forecasts predict that Vemlidy will generate $873m in sales in 2024.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
