Amarin Informed by FDA of October 16th Advisory Committee Date in Connection With Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Vascepa(R) in the Treatment of Patients With High Triglycerides (TG ≥200 mg/dL and < 500 mg/dL) with mixed dyslipidemia
BEDMINSTER, N.J. and DUBLIN, Ireland, - Amarin Corporation plc (Nasdaq:AMRN), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization and development of therapeutics to improve cardiovascular health, announced today that it was informed yesterday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the FDA will convene an advisory committee on October 16, 2013 in connection with the FDA's review of the Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) seeking approval for the use of Vascepa® (icosapent ethyl) capsules as an adjunct to diet in the treatment of adult patients with high triglycerides (TG ≥200 mg/dL and < 500 mg/dL) with mixed dyslipidemia. The FDA has previously assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date of December 20, 2013 for completion of its review of the sNDA. The FDA will consider the recommendation of the advisory committee, but the final decision regarding the approval of the sNDA will be made by the FDA.
"ANCHOR clinical trial results demonstrated the important role EPA-only omega-3 can play in helping adult patients with high triglycerides and mixed dyslipidemia," said Christie M. Ballantyne, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine and the Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Houston, Texas, and principal investigator of the ANCHOR trial. "In the ANCHOR trial, Vascepa lowered high triglyceride levels and showed robust reductions in a broad range of other lipid parameters on top of optimized statin therapy compared to placebo. Importantly, these beneficial effects were seen with a safety and tolerability profile comparable to placebo."
Vascepa was approved in 2012 as an adjunct to diet to reduce triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe (≥500 mg/dL) hypertriglyceridemia, based on the results of Amarin's MARINE clinical trial. The safety data from both the MARINE and ANCHOR clinical trials were reviewed by the FDA as part of the approval of Vascepa in the MARINE indication and are reflected in the approved product labeling for Vascepa. As is customary practice at FDA, yesterday's notification from the FDA is the only communication confirming the need for such a meeting. The FDA advisory committee topics and questions to the committee are anticipated to be made public by the FDA on its website in the week preceding the meeting, consistent with FDA procedure.
"For key first-in-class indications, an FDA advisory committee meeting is expected, and this public forum will be an important opportunity to discuss the ANCHOR data, which demonstrated Vascepa's unique potential as an adjunct to diet in the treatment of adult patients with high triglycerides (TG 200-499 mg/dL) and mixed dyslipidemia," said Eliot A. Brinton, MD, FAHA, FNLA, Director of Atherometabolic Research, Utah Foundation for Biomedical Research, and President, American Board of Clinical Lipidology. "Currently, many of these patients are receiving another prescription omega-3 which is not indicated for this disorder. Having instead an omega-3 product which lowers LDL-cholesterol in addition to triglycerides, has tolerability comparable to placebo, and is FDA-approved for use on top of statin therapy would be a welcome addition to the physician's armamentarium for comprehensive lipid management."
"With the support of the Amarin team, including our outside consultants, such as Christie and Eliot, we look forward to the advisory panel and working with the FDA to obtain regulatory approval of Vascepa for ANCHOR this year," said Joseph Zakrzewski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Amarin.
Currently, Amarin only markets Vascepa for the MARINE indication, for which it was approved in 2012, and which includes approximately 4 million patients in the United States. The proposed ANCHOR indication would expand the Vascepa patient population to include adult patients on statin therapy with triglyceride levels ranging from 200 to 499 mg/dL (and mixed dyslipidemia). Amarin estimates that one in five, or nearly 40 million, U.S. adults have triglyceride levels in this range. Amarin began selling Vascepa on January 28, 2013. Amarin believes that many of the same clinicians who have prescribed Vascepa for its currently approved indication will prescribe Vascepa for the much broader indication, based on the ANCHOR study now under formal FDA review, if approved.