Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. and Melinta Therapeutics, LLC announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Rezzayo (rezafungin for injection) for the treatment of candidemia and invasive candidiasis in adults with limited or no alternative treatment options. Rezzayo is the first new treatment option approved for patients with candidemia and invasive candidiasis in over a decade.
“The FDA approval of Rezzayo represents a significant milestone for Cidara, and for patients confronted with difficult-to-treat and often deadly candidemia and invasive candidiasis,” said Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cidara. “I am extremely proud of all of the Cidara employees who collectively advanced Rezzayo from preclinical development to NDA approval and am grateful to the many patients and healthcare teams who have participated in the clinical studies.”
George Thompson, M.D., principal investigator in the ReSTORE trial and professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, added, “The FDA approval of Rezzayo is tremendous news for those of us who have been hoping for a new option to treat our patients with these deadly fungal infections. Based on the totality of clinical data generated, Rezzayo has the potential to simplify the management of invasive candidiasis and enhance the continuity of echinocandin care.”
The FDA approval of once-weekly Rezzayo was based on clinical data from Cidara’s global ReSTORE Phase 3 trial and supported by the STRIVE Phase 2 clinical trial and extensive non-clinical development program. In clinical studies, Rezzayo, dosed once-weekly, met the FDA and EMA primary endpoints, demonstrating statistical non-inferiority versus caspofungin, a current once-daily standard of care. In addition, overall rates of adverse events and serious adverse events were comparable in patients receiving Rezzayo and caspofungin, while rates of adverse events leading to study drug discontinuation were also similar for Rezzayo and caspofungin. Based on Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation, Rezzayo was approved under Priority Review.
Christine Ann Miller, president and chief executive officer of Melinta Therapeutics, added, “We are thrilled that the FDA has approved Rezzayo, and are firmly committed to offering this innovative therapy to address unmet medical needs and simplify the treatment for patients suffering from invasive Candida infections. We intend to leverage our expansive commercial infrastructure and experience launching anti-infective drugs into acute care settings. We are working closely with Cidara and anticipate bringing Rezzayo, a differentiated once-weekly treatment to patients, this summer.”
Last year, Melinta announced that it had acquired the exclusive rights to commercialize Rezzayo in the U.S. from Cidara. Cidara retains the rights to rezafungin in Japan and has licensed the commercial rights to Melinta Therapeutics in the U.S. and Mundipharma in all other geographies. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted the marketing authorization application (MAA) for rezafungin in August 2022 and it is currently under review.
