Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced up to 7-year efficacy, safety and tolerability results from the Glatiramer Acetate Low-Frequency Administration (GALA) open-label extension study of COPAXONE® (glatiramer acetate injection) 40 mg/mL administered subcutaneously three-times-a-week for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS).
Over seven years, COPAXONE® 40 mg/mL provides consistent, long-term efficacy and safety
“The continued long-term efficacy, safety and tolerability observed in the GALA open-label extension study is encouraging,” said Daniel McBryan, M.D., Head of Global Medical Affairs at Teva. “The results reinforce COPAXONE 40 mg/mL as an effective and safe treatment option for patients with RMS.”
Efficacy analysis included exposure data from randomization until the last available observation for both the ES and DS groups (median glatiramer acetate exposure of 5.5 and 4.5 years, respectively). Annualized relapse rate for the entire long-term follow-up period since randomization was 0.26 for ES and 0.31 for DS groups (P=.041), and approximately 50% of patients were relapse-free in both groups. Time to first confirmed relapse was longer in ES vs DS patients (HR=0.815; 95% CI: 0.693-0.959); P=0.0135). Time to 6-month confirmed disability progression (CDP) and to EDSS 4.0 was similar between ES and DS groups, and approximately 81% of patients in both groups were free from 6-month CDP.
No new or unexpected adverse events emerged in patients receiving COPAXONE 40 mg/mL for up to 7 years. Adverse events were generally mild and consistent with the well-established safety profile of COPAXONE.
The poster, “Long-term efficacy, safety, and tolerability of three-times weekly dosing regimen of glatiramer acetate in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients: Up to 7-year results of the Glatiramer Acetate Low-Frequency Administration (GALA) open-label extension study,” will be on display during Poster Session 6 on Friday, April 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT.
About COPAXONE®
COPAXONE® is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Please click here for U.S. Full Prescribing Information: www.CopaxonePrescribingInformation.com. COPAXONE® is approved in more than 50 countries worldwide, including the United States, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Israel, and all European countries.
Important Safety Information about COPAXONE®
COPAXONE® is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to glatiramer acetate or mannitol.
Approximately 16% of patients exposed to COPAXONE® 20 mg per mL compared to 4% of those on placebo, and approximately 2% of patients exposed to COPAXONE® 40 mg per mL compared to none on placebo experienced a constellation of symptoms that may occur within minutes after injection and included at least 2 of the following: flushing, chest pain, palpitations, tachycardia, anxiety, dyspnea, throat constriction, and urticaria. In general, these symptoms have their onset several months after the initiation of treatment, although they may occur earlier, and a given patient may experience 1 or several episodes of these symptoms. Typically, the symptoms were transient and self-limited and did not require treatment; however, there have been reports of patients with similar symptoms who received emergency medical care.
Transient chest pain was noted in 13% of COPAXONE® 20 mg per mL patients compared to 6% of placebo patients, and approximately 2% of COPAXONE® 40 mg per mL patients compared to 1% on placebo. While some episodes of chest pain occurred in the context of the Post-Injection Reaction described above, many did not. The temporal relationship of this chest pain to an injection was not always known. The pain was usually transient, often unassociated with other symptoms, and appeared to have no clinical sequelae. Some patients experienced more than 1 such episode, and episodes usually began at least 1 month after the initiation of treatment.
At injection sites, localized lipoatrophy and, rarely, injection site skin necrosis may occur. Lipoatrophy may occur at various times after treatment onset (sometimes after several months) and is thought to be permanent. There is no known therapy for lipoatrophy.
Because COPAXONE® can modify immune response, it may interfere with immune functions. For example, treatment with COPAXONE® may interfere with recognition of foreign antigens in a way that would undermine the body’s tumor surveillance and its defenses against infection. There is no evidence that COPAXONE® does this, but there has not been a systematic evaluation of this risk.
In controlled studies of COPAXONE® 20 mg per mL, the most common adverse reactions with COPAXONE® vs placebo were injection site reactions (ISRs), such as erythema (43% vs 10%); vasodilatation (20% vs 5%); rash (19% vs 11%); dyspnea (14% vs 4%); and chest pain (13% vs 6%).
In a controlled study of COPAXONE® 40 mg per mL, the most common adverse reactions with COPAXONE® vs placebo were ISRs, such as erythema (22% vs 2%).
ISRs were one of the most common adverse reactions leading to discontinuation of COPAXONE®. ISRs, such as erythema, pain, pruritus, mass, edema, hypersensitivity, fibrosis, and atrophy, occurred at a higher rate with COPAXONE® than placebo.
About Teva
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) is a leading global pharmaceutical company that delivers high-quality, patient-centric healthcare solutions used by millions of patients every day. Headquartered in Israel, Teva is the world’s largest generic medicines producer, leveraging its portfolio of more than 1,800 molecules to produce a wide range of generic products in nearly every therapeutic area. In specialty medicines, Teva has a world-leading position in innovative treatments for disorders of the central nervous system, including pain, as well as a strong portfolio of respiratory products. Teva integrates its generics and specialty capabilities in its global research and development division to create new ways of addressing unmet patient needs by combining drug development capabilities with devices, services and technologies. Teva’s net revenues in 2017 were $22.4 billion. For more information, visit www.tevapharm.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the benefits of COPAXONE® 40 mg/mL, which are based on management’s current beliefs and expectations and are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from that expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to:
- commercial success of COPAXONE® 40 mg/mL, which faces competition from existing and potential additional generic versions, orally-administered and other alternatives;
- our specialty medicines business, including: our ability to achieve expected results from investments in our product pipeline; competition from companies with greater resources and capabilities; and the effectiveness of our patents and other measures to protect our intellectual property rights;
- our substantially increased indebtedness and significantly decreased cash on hand, which may limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, engage in additional transactions or make new investments, and may result in a further downgrade of our credit ratings; and our inability to raise debt or borrow funds in amounts or on terms that are favorable to us;
- our business and operations in general, including: failure to effectively execute the recently announced restructuring plan; uncertainties related to, and failure to achieve, the potential benefits and success of our new senior management team and organizational structure; harm to our pipeline of future products due to the expected review of our R&D programs; our ability to develop and commercialize additional pharmaceutical products; potential additional adverse consequences following our resolution with the U.S. government of our FCPA investigation; compliance with sanctions and other trade control laws; manufacturing or quality control problems, which may damage our reputation for quality production and require costly remediation; interruptions in our supply chain; disruptions of our or third party information technology systems or breaches of our data security; the failure to recruit or retain key personnel; variations in intellectual property laws that may adversely affect our ability to manufacture our products; challenges associated with conducting business globally, including adverse effects of political or economic instability, major hostilities or terrorism; significant sales to a limited number of customers in our U.S. market; our ability to successfully bid for suitable acquisition targets or licensing opportunities, or to consummate and integrate acquisitions; and our prospects and opportunities for growth if we sell assets;
- compliance, regulatory and litigation matters, including: costs and delays resulting from the extensive governmental regulation to which we are subject; the effects of reforms in healthcare regulation and reductions in pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement and coverage; governmental investigations into sales and marketing practices; potential liability for patent infringement; product liability claims; increased government scrutiny of our patent settlement agreements; failure to comply with complex Medicare and Medicaid reporting and payment obligations; and environmental risks;
- other financial and economic risks, including: our exposure to currency fluctuations and restrictions as well as credit risks; potential impairments of our intangible assets; potential significant increases in tax liabilities; and the effect on our overall effective tax rate of the termination or expiration of governmental programs or tax benefits, or of a change in our business;
and other factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, including in the section captioned “Risk Factors,” and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov and www.tevapharm.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
