Naloxone Prescribing Increasing but Still Very Low

In continuation of my update on Naloxone

Naloxone prescribing has increased but is still very low among patients at risk for opioid overdose, according to a study recently published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Lewei (Allison) Lin, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues compared adults who received opioids and naloxone from January 2014 to June 2017 to those who received opioids without naloxone using a U.S.-wide health insurance claims dataset. A total of 3,963 opioid+naloxone and 19,815 opioid-only patients were matched based on gender, age, month/year of opioid fill, and number of opioid claims.

The researchers found that high opioid daily dosage (50 to <90 morphine milligram equivalents [MME] and ≥90 MME versus <50 MME: adjusted odds ratios, 2.43 and 3.94, respectively), receiving concurrent benzodiazepines (adjusted odds ratio, 1.27), and having a diagnosis of opioid use disorder (adjusted odds ratio, 1.56) were key factors associated with naloxone fills. There was an increase in the percentage of patients receiving naloxone, but by the last six months of the study period, less than 2 percent of patients in any of the key overdose risk factor groups received naloxone.

"Increasing naloxone availability is one of the most promising interventions to reduce opioid overdose," the authors write. "These findings suggest there is substantial further work needed to increase naloxone for patients at risk for opioid overdose."

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11606-019-05423-7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naloxone

Suvorexant May Improve Insomnia With Alzheimer Disease

In continuation of my update on Suvorexant

Suvorexant improves total sleep time (TST) in patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia and insomnia, according to a study published online Jan. 15 in Alzheimer's & Dementia.

W. Joseph Herring, M.D., Ph.D., from Merck & Co., in Kenilworth, New Jersey, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with both probable AD dementia and insomnia to four weeks of suvorexant 10 mg (136 patients; could be increased to 20 mg based on clinical response) or placebo (141 patients). Overnight polysomnography in a sleep laboratory was used to assess TST.

The researchers found that at week 4, the mean improvement from baseline in TST was 73 minutes for the suvorexant group and 45 minutes for the placebo group. Patients taking suvorexant were twice as likely to show an improvement of ≥60 minutes in TST compared with those taking placebo. In suvorexant-treated patients, somnolence was reported by 4.2 percent of participants versus 1.4 percent of placebo-treated patients.

"Suvorexant did not appear to impair next-day cognitive or psychomotor performance as assessed by objective tests, although these assessments do not constitute a comprehensive assessment of cognition," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, which manufactures suvorexant and funded the study.

https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/alz.12035

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suvorexant

Fermented soy products linked to lower risk of death

In continuation of my update on the benefits of soy

Natto with Miso and Mayonnaise

A higher intake of fermented soy products, such as miso and natto, is associated with a lower risk of death, finds a study from Japan published by The BMJ today.

However, the researchers stress that the findings should be interpreted with caution as they may have been affected by unmeasured (confounding) factors.

In Asian countries, especially Japan, several types of soy products are widely consumed, such as natto (soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis), miso (soybeans fermented with Aspergillus oryzae), and tofu (soybean curd).

It is, however, still unclear whether different soy products, especially fermented soy products, are associated with specific health effects.

So a team of researchers in Japan set out to investigate the association between several types of soy products and death from any cause ("all cause mortality") and from cancer, total cardiovascular disease (heart disease and cerebrovascular disease), respiratory disease, and injury.

They base their findings on 42,750 men and 50,165 women aged 45-74 years who were taking part in a study based in 11 of Japan's public health centre areas.

Participants filled in detailed questionnaires about their dietary habits, lifestyle, and health status. Deaths were identified from residential registries and death certificates over a follow-up period of nearly 15 years.

The researchers found that a higher intake of fermented soy (natto and miso) was associated with a significantly lower (10%) risk of all cause mortality, but total soy product intake was not associated with all cause mortality.

Men and women who ate natto also had a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality than those who did not eat natto, but there was no association between soy intake and cancer related mortality.

These results persisted even after further adjusting for intake of vegetables, which was higher among those consuming larger portions of natto.

The authors point out that fermented soy products are richer in fibre, potassium and bioactive components than their non-fermented counterparts, which may help to explain their associations.

However, this is an observational study, so can't establish cause, and the researchers cannot rule out the possibility that some of the observed risk may be due to other unmeasured factors.

They conclude: "In this large prospective study conducted in Japan with a high rate of soy consumption, no significant association was found between intake of total soy products and all cause mortality. In contrast, a higher intake of fermented soy products (natto and miso) was associated with a lower risk of mortality."

Increasing evidence has suggested that fermented soy products are associated with health benefits, write researchers in a linked editorial. Whether people eat those products depends on their food culture, they say, but some countries already include soy and fermented soy products in their dietary guidelines.

Further studies are still required, however, "to refine our understanding of the health effects of fermented soy, and perhaps to inform the development of healthier and more palatable products," they conclude. "These efforts should be collaborative, including not only researchers but also policy makers and the food industry."

https://phys.org/news/2018-09-video-natto-stinky-slimy-soybean.html

Researchers uncover two-drug combo that halts the growth of cancer cells

                       Everolimus

Neratinib

In continuation of my update on Neratinib  and Everolimus

UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center researchers have discovered a two-drug combo that halts the growth of cancer cells that carry HER2 mutations.

The findings, published today in the journal Cancer Cell, were prompted by the observation that, after an initial response, patients with cancers harboring HER2 mutations eventually develop resistance to a promising new cancer drug currently in clinical trials.

The scientists found that another drug, already on the market, counters that resistance and blocks the cancer, thereby providing the basis for a novel drug combination against cancers with mutations in the HER2 gene.

Dhivya Sudhan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and collaborators evaluated data from a molecularly guided trial where patients with tumors with HER2 mutations were treated with the HER2 inhibitor neratinib. In this study, patients' cancers were sequenced as the disease progressed during treatment. Based on this analysis, Sudhan discovered in the laboratory that an effective way to offset eventual resistance to neratinib is with everolimus, a TORC1 inhibitor commonly used to treat other types of breast cancer.

"This finding may give clinicians an effective response to neratinib resistance. That could make a real difference for patients with breast, ovarian, lung, and other cancers harboring HER2 mutations," says Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D., Director of the Simmons Cancer Center at UT Southwestern and corresponding author of the study.

HER2 mutations have long been identified as a key driver in breast and other cancers. The authors of this study zeroed in on a signaling network driven by TORC1, which they showed is the pathway through which HER2-mutant cancers become neratinib-resistant.

"We consistently noted activation of TORC1 signaling as a mechanism of resistance to neratinib across different types of HER2-mutant cancers. Different cancer types used different strategies to escape neratinib, but they all converged on TORC1 signaling," Sudhan says.

In addition to studying tumor sequencing data from HER2-mutant cancer patients across the country who are in clinical trials for neratinib, Sudhan also studied neratinib-resistant cells and tumors that continue to live and grow in the laboratory.

The sequencing of the patients' cancer before and during the clinical trial showed that some patients already had a mutation that could activate the TORC1 pathway. Others would develop it eventually, but they could benefit from everolimus which is currently used as a TORC1 inhibitor to address the other roles TORC1 plays in cancer. Everolimus would allow the patient to continue benefiting from neratinib's inhibition of HER2.

Sudhan says the combination of neratinib and everolimus worked in cell lines, organoids established from patient-derived tumors, and in mice harboring HER2 mutant tumors. The next step will be testing this two-drug combo in humans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neratinib

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everolimus

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1535610819305835?via%3Dihub

Taking aim at gastric cancer: New approach to selective chemotherapy

A novel drug, named "FerriIridium," can simultaneously help diagnose and treat gastric cancer. The initially weakly active precursor (prodrug), based on an iridium-containing compound, is selectively activated only after reaching the interior of a tumor cell. This is possible because of the higher amount of iron present there, report scientists in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Selective activation reduces undesired side effects.

Cells transport substances from their exterior to their interior by folding in small regions of their membrane and then binding them off (endocytosis). This is how FerriIridium enters target cells. The resulting vesicles then fuse with lysosomes. These cell organelles have an acidic environment that contains trivalent iron ions, Fe(III), and enzymes, with which they dismantle cell components that are no longer needed. In gastric cancer cells, the Fe(III) concentration within the lysosomes is significantly elevated.

Scientists working with Yu Chen and Hui Chao at Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, and Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan (China) made use of this feature. They equipped FerriIridium with a special functional group (the m-iminocatechol group) that selectively binds to Fe(III). When bound, the functional group is oxidized while the iron ions are reduced to Fe(II). Under the acidic conditions within the lysosomes, the FerriIridium is then split into two components: an iridium complex and a benzoquinone derivative.

This reaction mechanism has a threefold effect. First, Fe(II) ions can catalyze a reaction that produces highly reactive hydroxyl radicals. Second, benzoquinones are highly oxidizing. With certain cellular substances, such as NADPH, they form hydroxyquinones, which react with oxygen to produce radical oxygen species, as well as hydrogen peroxide, which in turn can react with Fe(II) to produce hydroxyl radicals. Benzoquinone compounds can also disrupt cellular respiration. The radicals destroy the lysosomes, releasing their contents. Third, the splitting of FerriIridium drastically increases both the phosphorescence and the toxicity of the iridium complex. The phosphorescence can be used to diagnose the tumor. Most importantly, however, the toxic iridium complex is absorbed by mitochondria, the "cellular power plants." It destroys them from the inside out by collapsing their membrane potential. Together, these effects lead to the death of the gastric cancer cells and shrinking of the tumors, as demonstrated by experiments on cell lines and mice.

https://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/11214563/Taking_Aim_at_Gastric_Cancer.html

Walnuts may slow cognitive decline in at-risk elderly: Two-year study examined walnut consumption among study groups in California and Spain

In continuation of my update on Walnuts

Eating walnuts may help slow cognitive decline in at-risk groups of the elderly population, according to a study conducted by researchers in California and Spain.

The Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study, published this month in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that walnut consumption by healthy, elderly adults had little effect on cognitive function over two years, but it had a greater effect on elderly adults who had smoked more and had a lower baseline neuropsychological test scores.

The study examined nearly 640 free-living elders in Loma Linda, California, USA, and in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. For two years, the test group included walnuts in their daily diet, and the control group abstained from walnuts.

Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols, which have previously been found to counteract oxidative stress and inflammation, both of which are drivers of cognitive decline.

Joan Sabaté, MD, DrPH, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and the study's principal investigator, said this was the largest and most well-controlled trial ever conducted on the effects of nuts on cognition.

"While this was a minor result, it could lead to better outcomes when conducted over longer periods of time," Sabaté said. "Further investigation is definitely warranted based on our findings, especially for disadvantaged populations, who may have the most to gain from incorporating walnuts and other nuts into their diet."

Sabaté and his research team at Loma Linda University were the first to discover the cholesterol-lowering effect of nut consumption -- specifically walnuts -- with lowering blood cholesterol. Findings were first published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993.

Subsequently, findings from Loma Linda University researchers have linked nut consumption to lower risk of cardiovascular diseases.

The Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study was funded by a grant from the California Walnut Commission, which had no input in the study design, data collection, analyses, or writing and submission of the manuscript.

https://news.llu.edu/research/walnuts-may-slow-cognitive-decline-risk-elderly

FDA Acceptance of ALKS 3831 New Drug Application for Treatment of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

 Alkermes plc (Nasdaq: ALKS) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company's New Drug Application (NDA) seeking approval of ALKS 3831 (olanzapine/samidorphan) for the treatment of schizophrenia and for the treatment of bipolar I disorder. ALKS 3831 is an investigational, novel, once-daily, oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate designed to provide the efficacy of olanzapine while mitigating olanzapine-associated weight gain. The NDA has been assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of Nov. 15, 2020. [(Olanzapine/samidorphan - developmental code name ALKS-3831) is a combination of the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine and the opioid modulator samidorphan

                             

                                                                                             Samidorphan

olanzapine

"The acceptance of the NDA for ALKS 3831 marks an important milestone toward our goal of offering a new treatment option to people living with schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder. The ALKS 3831 development program builds on Alkermes' commitment to developing new therapeutic options that seek to address unmet needs of patients in large therapeutic areas," said Craig Hopkinson, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Alkermes. "We believe ALKS 3831 has the potential to be a meaningful new offering for patients with these serious and complex mental health disorders, and we look forward to engaging with the FDA throughout the NDA review process."

The ALKS 3831 NDA includes data from the ENLIGHTEN clinical development program in patients with schizophrenia, as well as pharmacokinetic (PK) bridging data comparing ALKS 3831 and ZYPREXA^® (olanzapine), to support an indication for the treatment of schizophrenia, and an indication for the treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder as a monotherapy or adjunct to lithium or valproate and for maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder. Alkermes is seeking approval of fixed dosage strengths of ALKS 3831 composed of 10 mg of samidorphan co-formulated with 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg or 20 mg of olanzapine.

About the ENLIGHTEN Clinical Development Program

The ENLIGHTEN clinical development program for ALKS 3831 includes two key studies in patients with schizophrenia: the ENLIGHTEN-1 study, which evaluated the antipsychotic efficacy of ALKS 3831 compared to placebo over four weeks, and the ENLIGHTEN-2 study, which assessed weight gain with ALKS 3831 compared to olanzapine over six months. The program also includes supportive studies to evaluate the pharmacokinetic and metabolic profile and long-term safety of ALKS 3831, and pharmacokinetic bridging studies comparing ALKS 3831 and ZYPREXA.

About ALKS 3831

ALKS 3831 is an investigational, novel, once-daily, oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. ALKS 3831 is composed of samidorphan, a novel, new molecular entity, co-formulated with the established antipsychotic agent, olanzapine, in a single bilayer tablet.

About Schizophrenia 

Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder marked by positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusions, disorganized speech and thoughts, and agitated or repeated movements) and negative symptoms (depression, blunted emotions and social withdrawal).An estimated 2.4 million American adults have schizophrenia, with men and women affected equally.

About Bipolar I Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function. Patients with this brain disorder may experience debilitating mood shifts from extreme highs (mania) to extreme lows (depression). Bipolar I disorder is characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic episode, with or without the occurrence of a major depressive episode, and affects approximately one percent of the adult population in the United States in any given year.

About Alkermes plc

Alkermes plc is a fully integrated, global biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases and oncology. The company has a diversified commercial product portfolio and a clinical pipeline of product candidates for diseases that include schizophrenia, depression, addiction, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Alkermes plc has an R&D center in Waltham, Massachusetts; a research and manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland; and a manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Ohio. For more information, please visit Alkermes' website at www.alkermes.com.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olanzapine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samidorphan

Could a Common Diuretic Med Help Ease Autism Symptoms?

A prescription drug that's long been used to treat the buildup of fluid in the body might do double duty as a means of easing autism symptoms in young children, new research shows.

If replicated in future trials, the drug treatment might be a breakthrough, since current treatments for autism in preschool kids are mainly behavioral -- therapies such as using play and activities with parents to improve a child's language, social and thinking skills.

The drug bumetanide is currently used to help reduce fluid-linked swelling that comes with heart failure or kidney disease.

But bumetanide may improve autism symptoms by affecting two chemical "messengers" that help nerve cells in the brain communicate. The drug appears to lower the ratio of one key brain chemical called GABA, to another chemical called glutamate, explained a team from the University of Cambridge and several institutions in Taiwan and China.

It's this mechanism that appears to help ease autism symptoms.

"This is the first demonstration that bumetanide improves brain function and reduces symptoms by reducing the amount of the brain chemical GABA," said researcher Ching-Po Lin, of National Yang-Ming University in Taipei, Taiwan.

Speaking in a Cambridge news release, he said, "Understanding this mechanism is a major step towards developing new and more effective drug treatments."

Study co-author Barbara Sahakian, from Cambridge's department of psychiatry, agreed.

"This study is important and exciting because it means that there is a drug that can improve social learning and reduce [autism] symptoms during the time when the brains of these children are still developing," she said in the release.

"We know that GABA and glutamate are key chemicals in the brain for plasticity and learning and so these children should have an opportunity for a better quality of life and well-being," Sahakian said.

According to the researchers, prior studies in rats and small clinical trials involving children had suggested that bumetanide might help reduce symptoms of autism.

The new study was still relatively small -- just 83 children with autism, ranging between 3 to 6 years of age. The children were divided: One group of 42 received 0.5 milligrams of bumetanide twice a day for three months, while a "control" group of 41 children received no treatment.

Along with reducing autism symptoms, bumetanide appeared to cause no significant side effects, according to the study published Jan. 26 in Translational Psychiatry.

Any medicine that might alleviate autism symptoms would be very welcome, because behavioral treatments are not always accessible, particularly in developing countries, the research team noted.

"I have many children with autism spectrum disorder under my care, but as psychological treatment resources are not available in many places, we are unable to offer them treatment. An effective and safe treatment will be very good news for them," study clinical leader Dr. Fei Li, of Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, said in the release.

Dr. Andrew Adesman directs developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park. He wasn't involved in the new study,  but was cautiously optimistic about the results.

Future trials will reveal how useful bumetanide might be against autism.

"Several methodologically rigorous, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are now underway," Adesman noted, "and we should know much more in a year or two as to whether bumetanide is indeed safe and effective."

The current trial did have one key shortcoming, he said.

"Because this study lacked a placebo control group, it is hard to know if all of the clinical improvements reported were due to the bumetanide treatment itself or to placebo effects," Adesman said. But he said certain brain scan evidence presented in the study does suggest a real and beneficial effect.

Adesman added that parents should probably not demand the drug for their kids just yet, however.

"I think families should wait until we know a little more about its potential benefits and side effects," he said. "We need a methodologically rigorous, well-designed clinical trial to better assess the clinical benefits of bumetanide."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumetanide

FDA Approves Merck’s Dificid (fidaxomicin) to Treat Clostridioides

In continuation of my update on fidaxomicin

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada,  announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a New Drug Application (NDA) for Dificid (fidaxomicin) for oral suspension, and a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for DIFICID tablets for the treatment of Clostridioides (formerly Clostridium) difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) in children aged six months and older. 

Dificid is a macrolide antibacterial medicine indicated in adults and pediatric patients aged 6 months and older for treatment of CDAD. To reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria and maintain the effectiveness of Dificid and other antibacterial drugs, Dificid should be used only to treat infections that are proven or strongly suspected to be caused by Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile). Dificid is contraindicated in patients who have known hypersensitivity to fidaxomicin or any other ingredient in Dificid. Dificid should only be used for the treatment of CDAD. Dificid is not expected to be effective for treatment of other types of infections due to minimal systemic absorption of fidaxomicin.

“C. difficile is an important cause of health care- and community-associated diarrheal illness in children, and sustained cure is difficult to achieve in some patients. The fidaxomicin pediatric trial was the first randomized controlled trial of C. difficile infection treatment in children,” said Dr. Larry K. Kociolek, Associate Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “I am very excited to have a new C. difficile infection treatment option for my pediatric patients.”

“Merck is committed to developing new treatments, as well as expanding indications of existing ones, in order to provide more solutions to treat infectious diseases, particularly among children,” said Dr. Nicholas Kartsonis, senior vice president, clinical research, infectious diseases and vaccines, Merck Research Laboratories. “C. difficile infection is an urgent public health challenge. We are grateful to the health care practitioners, the patients and their families for their invaluable contributions in helping to bring this new pediatric indication and the oral suspension formulation for Dificid to the U.S. market.”

Both applications received a priority review classification by the FDA. The investigational pediatric indication for Dificid was granted Orphan Drug Designation in 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidaxomicin

FDA Approves Merck’s Dificid (fidaxomicin) to Treat Clostridioides difficile in Children Aged Six Months and Older

Low-Dose Aspirin Cuts Preterm Delivery in Nulliparous Women

In continuation of my update on aspirin 

Among nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies from low-income and middle-income countries, the incidence of preterm delivery before 37 weeks is reduced for those receiving low-dose aspirin versus placebo, according to a study published in the Jan. 25 issue of The Lancet.

Matthew K. Hoffman, M.D., from Christiana Care in Newark, Delaware, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial of low-dose aspirin initiated between 6 weeks 0 days of pregnancy and 13 weeks 6 days of pregnancy in nulliparous women from seven community sites in six countries (India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Kenya, Pakistan, and Zambia). A total of 11,976 women aged 14 to 40 years were randomly assigned to receive either low-dose aspirin (5,990 women) or placebo (5,786 women); 5,780 and 5,764 women, respectively, were included in the primary outcome analysis.

The researchers found that preterm birth before 37 weeks occurred in 11.6 and 13.1 percent of the women who took aspirin and placebo, respectively (relative risk, 0.89; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 0.98). Women who took aspirin had significant reductions in perinatal mortality, fetal loss (infant death after 16 weeks of gestation and before seven days postpartum), early preterm delivery (<34 weeks), and incidence of delivery before 34 weeks with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (relative risk [95 percent confidence interval], 0.86 [0.73 to 1.00], 0.86 [0.74 to 1.00], 0.75 [0.61 to 0.93], and 0.38 [0.17 to 0.85], respectively).

"Our results suggest that low-dose aspirin therapy in early pregnancy could provide an inexpensive way to lower the preterm birth rate in first-time mothers," a coauthor said in a statement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin

FDA Approves Tazverik (tazemetostat) for the Treatment of Patients with Epithelioid Sarcoma

Epizyme, Inc. (Nasdaq: EPZM), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel epigenetic therapies,  announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval of Tazverik (tazemetostat) for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients aged 16 years and older with metastatic or locally advanced epithelioid sarcoma not eligible for complete resection, based on overall response rate and duration of response in a Phase 2 clinical trial.

Despite industry advancements, there are limited therapeutic options for treating patients with epithelioid sarcoma who struggle with high rates of recurrence and toxicities associated with currently used therapies,” said Gary K. Schwartz, M.D., chief of hematology and oncology at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, deputy director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, professor of oncology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and an investigator in Epizyme’s Phase 2 trial. “The Tazverik data from the ES cohort in Epizyme’s Phase 2 trial support its potential to provide clinically meaningful and durable responses, and tolerability for ES patients. This approval of Tazverik represents an important advancement in the treatment of patients with ES.”

“Today’s accelerated approval of Tazverik is a landmark event for people with ES and represents our dedication to our mission of rewriting treatment for people with cancer and other serious diseases,” said Robert Bazemore, president and chief executive officer of Epizyme. “Tazverik is now the first and only FDA-approved EZH2 inhibitor, and the first and only FDA-approved treatment specifically indicated for ES patients. Our commercial launch plans are underway, and we expect to make Tazverik available to ES patients and treating physicians across the U.S. within 10 business days.”

“For people with epithelioid sarcoma, an aggressive life threatening cancer that affects young adults, having new treatment options can offer much needed hope,” added Denise Reinke, MS, NP, MBA, president and chief executive officer of the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC) and co-founder of the Sarcoma Coalition.

Dr. Shefali Agarwal, chief medical officer, commented, “Discovering, developing and obtaining FDA approval for Tazverik, with its novel mechanism of action, is the result of years of work and commitment by many people, including the patients, caregivers and physicians who have participated in our clinical trials, along with the talented team at Epizyme. We are tremendously proud of this important milestone and look forward to further advancing clinical development of tazemetostat for multiple types of cancers.”

Continued approval for this indication is contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial. The company’s ongoing, global, randomized, controlled confirmatory trial assessing the combination of Tazverik plus doxorubicin compared with doxorubicin plus placebo as a front-line treatment for ES is underway.

In addition, Epizyme will conduct certain post-marketing activities, including clinical pharmacology evaluations to assess the effect of Tazverik on liver function and the effect of CYP3A inhibitors and inducers on Tazverik to inform aspects of the prescribing information. The company will also expand enrollment in Cohort 6 of its Phase 2 study, which has enrolled 44 patients to date, for a total of at least 60 epithelioid sarcoma patients. This expansion is intended to provide more patient experience for potential future inclusion in the label.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazemetostat