The hold places a pause on enrollment in the high-dose cohort of the company's Phase I study of intrathecal AVXS-101, a different administration for the marketed therapy Zolgensma. It does not affect the marketed product and is unrelated to an early data manipulation scandal.
Interim Phase I/II data for Zolgensma showed improvements in children aged 2 to less than 5 with spinal muscular atrophy. The therapy received FDA approval in May for infants younger than 2.
Patient expectations continue to evolve, and healthcare practices that fail to adapt risk more than just revenue—they risk losing trust.
The Aug. 23 document from AveXis, posted on the FDA website Tuesday, fingered "two AveXis senior executives" who had been terminated. Brothers Brian and Allan Kaspar were ousted from AveXis last month, though the former denied any wrongdoing.
Novartis subsidiary AveXis is presenting Phase III data at a European pediatric neurology conference on the therapy, Zolgensma, which won approval in May for spinal muscular atrophy in infants.
Subsidiary AveXis said the two executives being replaced had not been involved in operations since May and were no longer with the company. Another publication reported that they had been ousted in connection the scandal.
In a statement Tuesday, an FDA official wrote that subsidiary AveXis disclosed manipulation of mouse data for the gene therapy Zolgensma, which the agency approved in May for spinal muscular atrophy. The official wrote that civil or criminal penalties were possible.
See how Quantum Health is providing the steps to help their members tackle the cost of specialty medications and other drugs.
The gene therapy will be priced at $2.125 million, or $425,000 per year for five years, under an installment-based payment program for which Novartis is partnered with specialty pharmacy Accredo.
From bringing in a mere 350 scientists in an embattled field 12 years ago, this year's Alliance for Regenerative Medicine Cell and Gene Meeting brought in more than 1,200.
The AveXis treatment for spinal muscular atrophy type 1 generated positive clinical data from a study in November last year — the 15 infants treated at 20 months with AVXS-10 suffered no adverse events.
Also, Gene therapy company AveXis Inc. filed to raise up to $115 million in an IPO, and HealthMyne won FDA 510(k) clearance for its analytics software package.
FASENRA® (benralizumab) injection, for subcutaneous use, 30 mg is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). FASENRA provides a treatment option for HCPs to consider when managing this challenging disease.