Theramex’s Eladynos (abaloparatide) will be available for menopausal women with osteoporosis in England within three months, following positive guidance from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
The drug, which is marketed by Radius Health as Tymlos in the US, increases bone density by stimulating the cells that make new bone and this reduces the risk of fracture. It is an injection that comes as a pre-filled pen that people can self-administer at home once a day.
Women’s health company Thermax acquired Eladynos through a March 2023 exclusive licensing agreement with Radius. Under the terms of the deal, Theramex can commercialise Eladynos in the European Economic Area, the UK, Australia, and Brazil.
In April 2017, the injection was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, and in December 2022 for the treatment of men with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture.
Menopause can accelerate bone loss and increase the risk of osteoporosis due to the decline in oestrogen levels, which are crucial for maintaining bone density. The usual treatment for osteoporosis after menopause in people with a very high risk of fracture includes UCB and Amgen’s Evenity (romosozumab) or Eli Lilly’s Forsteo (teriparatide).
Monoclonal antibody Evenity works by inhibiting sclerostin to increase bone formation and simultaneously reducing bone resorption. It was approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2020. In April 2022, NICE reversed its previous decision from November 2021 and recommended Evenity, after its earlier concerns about cost were addressed. The drug pulled in $1.16m in 2023, as per Amgen’s financials.
Despite the recommendation for Evenity, some patients cannot tolerate it due to side effects such as osteonecrosis, and they stop taking the drug.
Forsteo works in a similar but not identical manner to Eladynos by acting as a synthetic form of parathyroid hormone (PTH), stimulating bone formation by activating osteoblasts. Eladynos, a synthetic peptide that is a PTH-related peptide analogue, offers a different binding profile and may provide greater efficacy according to some studies.
NICE has said that Eladynos could benefit more than 14,000 people in England.
According to GlobalData, the osteoporosis market is forecast to generate $17.9bn across the seven major markets (US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan) by 2033.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
In the announcement accompanying the recommendation, NICE’s chief medical officer Jonathan Benger said: “Our focus is on enabling access to care that improves quality of life while offering value to the taxpayer. Abaloparatide has been found by our independent committee to be clinically and cost-effective at reducing the risk of fracture, giving people more independence and therefore a better quality of life.”
