Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Brazilian authorities said the death was unlikely to have been caused by Elevidys and was instead more in line with severe infection exacerbated by immunosuppression.
The European Union’s health regulatory agency did not endorse approving Elevidys for ambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
CBER is unanimously against Elevdiys’ return to the market without additional evidence, according to media reports citing an anonymous senior FDA official. Given Elevidys’ full approval, however, experts told BioSpace this path would set up a length legal battle between the regulator and Sarepta Therapeutics.
The voluntary pauses follow two patient deaths associated with the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy.
Sarepta Therapeutics faces serious FDA action after news broke of a third patient death, the FDA gets a new top drug regulator in George Tidmarsh, a handful of new drugs get turned away from the market and pharma companies continue to commit billions to reshoring manufacturing.
Sarepta Therapeutics’ stock has dropped precipitously as questions swirl around the safety of its gene therapies. Meanwhile, the Duchenne patient community fears losing access to Elevidys while the regulator considers more drastic action.
After initially refusing to suspend Elevidys distribution after two deaths, Sarepta has now given in to the FDA’s request, noting the need to maintain a good working relationship with the regulator.
In light of recent patient deaths, the FDA has also revoked its platform designation for Sarepta’s AAVrh74 technology. The designation, granted last month, was the first of its kind to be announced publicly.
The rollercoaster week for Sarepta Therapeutics continued, with shares of the embattled gene therapy-turned-siRNA biotech down 37% Friday afternoon as media outlets reported FDA plans to request a stop to all shipments of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy therapy Elevidys following a third patient death linked to the underlying platform.
The patient, who was being treated with an investigational gene therapy for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, died of acute liver failure, the same complication responsible for the deaths of two boys taking Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment Elevidys.
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