WAYNE, Pa., Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Egalet Corporation (Nasdaq: EGLT) (“Egalet”), a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative treatments for pain and other conditions, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the new drug application (NDA) for ARYMO ER (morphine sulfate) extended-release tablets. ARYMO ER is being developed for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. The FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for a decision is October 14, 2016.
“The acceptance of our NDA for ARYMO ER marks an important and exciting step toward the approval of our first Guardian Technology product candidate,” said Jeffrey Dayno, MD, chief medical officer of Egalet. “We look forward to working with the FDA during the review process in order to bring this product to market as quickly as possible.”
The 505(b)(2) regulatory submission is based on pivotal pharmacokinetic studies that demonstrated bioequivalence of ARYMO ER 15 mg, 30 mg and 60 mg to equivalent doses of MS Contin (morphine sulfate controlled-release). In addition, the submission includes a comprehensive battery of Category 1, 2 and 3 abuse-deterrent studies which were all conducted in accordance with the April 2015 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Guidance for Industry, Abuse-Deterrent Opioids Evaluation and Labeling to support abuse-deterrent label claims for ARYMO ER regarding intravenous injection, snorting and oral routes of misuse and abuse.
The FDA indicated that they currently plan to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss the application.
About Chronic Pain
According to the Institute of Medicine, there are approximately 100 million Americansmore than those affected by heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combinedwho suffer from chronic pain, which is often undertreated. Chronic pain is typically defined as pain that lasts beyond the healing of an injury or that persists beyond three months. Common types of chronic pain include lower back pain, arthritis, headache, and face and jaw pain. Severe pain typically stops an individual from participating in activities and causes patients to change their behavior to avoid such activities. According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, chronic pain is associated with functional loss and disability, reduced quality of life, high health care costs, and premature death. Chronic pain also can result in isolation, depression, sleep disorders, and other issues that have a negative impact not only on patients, but also on family members. It is important that these patients, whose chronic pain often interrupts daily life, gain and maintain access to adequate pain relief. Opioid analgesics, along with other medications and treatment modalities, play an important role in the management of moderate to severe pain and are the most widely prescribed products for the treatment of pain, with prescriptions exceeding 200 million in 2015.
Guardian Technology
Egalet’s Guardian Technology has many applications and has been used to develop commonly abused prescription medications in an abuse-deterrent form. Morphine sulfate is an opioid agonist and a Schedule II controlled substance with an acknowledged abuse liability. The risk of accidental misuse and abuse of morphine was the focus of the development program for ARYMO ER, which demonstrated physical and chemical features that are resistant to both common and more rigorous methods of manipulation. Egalet’s proprietary Guardian Technology is a polymer matrix tablet technology that utilizes a novel manufacturing process, plastic injection molding, which results in tablets with controlled-release properties as well as physical and chemical features that have been demonstrated to resist both common and rigorous methods of manipulation. Guardian Technology results in tablets that are extremely hard, very difficult to chew, resistant to particle size reduction, and inhibit/block attempts at chemical extraction of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. In addition, the technology results in a viscous hydrogel on contact with liquid, making syringeability very difficult. These features are important to address the risk of accidental misuse (e.g., chewing) in patients with chronic pain, as well as intentional abuse using more rigorous methods of manipulation.
About Egalet
Egalet, a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company, is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative treatments for pain and other conditions. The Company has two approved products: OXAYDO (oxycodone HCI, USP) tablets for oral use only CII and SPRIX® (ketorolac tromethamine) Nasal Spray. In addition, using Egalet’s proprietary Guardian Technology, the Company is developing a pipeline of clinical-stage, opioid-based product candidates that are specifically designed to deter abuse by physical and chemical manipulation. The lead programs, ARYMO ER ER®, formerly known as Egalet-001, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release, oral morphine formulation, and Egalet-002, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release, oral oxycodone formulation, are being developed for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. Egalet’s Guardian Technology can be applied broadly across different classes of pharmaceutical products and can be used to develop combination products that include multiple active pharmaceutical ingredients with similar or different release profiles. Full additional information on Egalet, please visit egalet.com. For full prescribing information on SPRIX, including the box warning, please visit sprix.com. For full prescribing information on OXAYDO, please visit oxaydo.com.
Safe Harbor
Statements included in this press release (including but not limited to upcoming milestones) that are not historical in nature are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, and are subject to known and unknown uncertainties and risks. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to: the success of Egalet’s clinical trials, including the timely recruitment of trial subjects and meeting the timelines therefor; Egalet’s ability to obtain regulatory approval of Egalet’s product candidates; Egalet’s ability to maintain the intellectual property position of Egalet’s products and product candidates; Egalet’s ability to identify and reliance upon qualified third parties to manufacture its products; Egalet’s ability to service its debt obligations; Egalet’s ability to find and hire qualified sales professionals; the receptivity in the marketplace and among physicians to Egalet’s products; the success of products which compete with Egalet’s that are or become available; general market conditions; and other risk factors described in Egalet’s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Egalet assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking-statements contained in this press release whether as a result of new information or future events, except as may be required by law.
Investor and Media Contact:
E. Blair Clark-Schoeb
Senior Vice President, Communications
Email: bcs@egalet.com
Tel: 917-432-9275
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SOURCE Egalet Corporation
