Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) announced on 10/19/18 that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion for KALYDECO®(ivacaftor) to include the treatment of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) aged 12 to <24 months who have at least one of the following nine mutations in their cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene: G551D, G1244E, G1349D, G178R, G551S, S1251N, S1255P, S549N or S549R.
If the European Commission issues a favorable adoption of the EMA CHMP opinion for the extension of indication, ivacaftor will be the first and only medicine approved in Europe to treat the underlying cause of CF in patients aged 12 to <24 months, who have specific mutations in the CFTR gene.
“Cystic fibrosis is a chronic, progressive disease that is present at birth, with symptoms often occurring in infancy, so early treatment is crucial to deliver the best possible outcomes for patients,” said Reshma Kewalramani, MD, Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Vertex. “Today’s announcement marks an important step towards allowing young CF patients to benefit from treatment at an early stage of their disease, and brings us one step closer to our goal of treating all people living with CF.”
The submission was supported by data from the ongoing Phase 3 open-label safety study (ARRIVAL) of children with CF aged 12 to <24 months who have one of 10 mutations in the CFTR gene that demonstrated a safety profile consistent with that observed in previous Phase 3 studies of older children and adults, and improvements in sweat chloride, a key secondary efficacy endpoint.
Ivacaftor is already approved in Europe for the treatment of CF in patients aged two years and older who have one of the nine following mutations in the CFTR gene: G551D, G1244E, G1349D, G178R, G551S, S1251N, S1255P, S549N or S549R. It is also approved for the treatment of CF in patients aged 18 years and older who have an R117H mutation in the CFTR gene.
