Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) for maribavir for the treatment of CMV infection in those that are refractory with or without resistance (R/R), in solid organ transplant (SOT) or hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients.
This is an inflection year for Takeda’s pipeline with up to six regulatory submissions and four potential approvals anticipated by the end of fiscal year 2021. The maribavir NDA acceptance is Takeda’s fourth new molecular entity accepted for regulatory review in six months, following the FDA submissions of TAK-721 for the treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis, mobocertinib for the treatment of EGFR Exon20 insertion mutation positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, and the European Medicines Agency submission of the Company’s dengue vaccine candidate (TAK-003), which is being investigated for the prevention of dengue due to any dengue virus serotype in individuals ages four to 60.
“CMV is one of the most common viral infections experienced by transplant recipients, and current antiviral treatment options are limited, and physicians have to engage in a careful balance of viral clearance and side effect management that can impact patient care and transplant outcomes,” said Obi Umeh, MD, Vice President and Maribavir Global Program Leader, Takeda. “If approved, maribavir has the potential to change the treatment landscape for post-transplant CMV, and the acceptance of this regulatory application is an important milestone on maribavir’s path forward.”
The application is based on the pivotal Phase 3 TAK-620-303 (SOLSTICE) trial, results of which were presented at the 2021 Transplantation & Cellular Therapy (TCT) Meetings Digital Experience, with subgroup analysis presented during the Presidential Symposium 47th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).
“CMV infection puts transplant recipients at an increased risk of disease, such as pneumonia or gastrointestinal disease. It can also increase the risk of graft rejection, opportunistic co-infections, and in some cases, even death,” said Michael Boeckh, M.D., Ph.D., Head, Infectious Disease Sciences Program at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutch “The results of the SOLSTICE trial are promising and show that maribavir may help with post-transplant CMV viremia, including cases of drug-resistance for which there is an unmet need.”
Maribavir has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA for treatment of clinically significant CMV viremia and disease in at-risk patients. The FDA has also granted maribavir Breakthrough Therapy Designation as a treatment for CMV infection and disease in transplant patients resistant or refractory to prior therapy. These designations do not guarantee that the FDA will approve maribavir for the treatment of CMV infections in transplant patients, and the timing of any such approval is uncertain.
