HUMAN GENOME SCIENCES AND GLAXOSMITHKLINE ANNOUNCE FDA APPROVAL OF BENLYSTA® (BELIMUMAB) FOR TREATMENT OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
- First new approved drug for systemic lupus in more than 50 years
- To be available to physicians and patients before the end of March
ROCKVILLE, Maryland, and LONDON, UK - March 9, 2011 - Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BENLYSTA® (belimumab) for the treatment of adult patients with active, autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are receiving standard therapy.
The label for BENLYSTA includes the following limitations of use: The efficacy of belimumab has not been evaluated in patients with severe active lupus nephritis or severe active central nervous system lupus, and has not been studied in combination with other biologics or intravenous cyclophosphamide. Use of belimumab is therefore not recommended in these situations.
"We and GSK are honored to have the opportunity, with the approval of FDA, to bring BENLYSTA forward in the United States as the first new drug for systemic lupus in more than 50 years," said H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, HGS. "We expect to have this novel therapy available to physicians and patients within about two weeks, and our entire organization looks forward to the positive impact we hope this new therapy will have for patients with systemic lupus."
Slaoui, Ph.D., Chairman, GSK Research and Development, said, "The approval of BENLYSTA is an important step for appropriate lupus patients. Patients have been waiting for new treatment options to help manage this chronic disease. We look forward to working together with HGS to bring this new medicine to patients in the U.S."
For full BENLYSTA prescribing information, please click here. For the medication guide for BENLYSTA (belimumab), please click here.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
BENLYSTA (belimumab) is contraindicated in patients who have had anaphylaxis with belimumab.
There were more deaths reported with belimumab than with placebo during the controlled period of the clinical trials. Out of 2133 patients in 3 clinical trials, a total of 14 deaths occurred during the placebo-controlled, double-blind treatment periods: 3/675 (0.4%), 5/673 (0.7%), 0/111 (0%), and 6/674 (0.9%) deaths in the placebo, belimumab 1 mg/kg, belimumab 4 mg/kg and belimumab 10 mg/kg groups, respectively. No single cause of death predominated. Etiologies included infection, cardiovascular disease, and suicide.
Serious and sometimes fatal infections have been reported in patients receiving immunosuppressive agents, including belimumab. In controlled clinical trials, serious infections occurred in 6.0% of patients treated with belimumab and in 5.2% of patients who received placebo. The most frequent serious infections included pneumonia, urinary tract infection (UTI), cellulitis, and bronchitis. The most frequent infections (≥5%) were upper respiratory tract infection, UTI, nasopharyngitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, and influenza.
The impact of treatment with belimumab on the development of malignancies is not known. As with other immunomodulating agents, the mechanism of action of belimumab could increase the risk for developing malignancies.
Hypersensitivity reactions were reported in 13% of patients receiving belimumab and 11% of patients receiving placebo, and included anaphylaxis (0.6% with belimumab and 0.4% with placebo). Infusion-associated adverse events were reported in 17% of patients receiving belimumab and 15% of patients receiving placebo. Serious infusion reactions included bradycardia, myalgia, headache, rash, urticaria, and hypotension. The most common infusion reactions (>3%) were headache, nausea, and skin reactions.
Psychiatric events (primarily depression, insomnia, and anxiety) were reported more frequently with belimumab (16%) than with placebo (12%). Serious psychiatric events, serious depression and two suicides were also reported (0.8% for belimumab and 0.4% for placebo). It is unknown if belimumab treatment is associated with increased risk for these events.
The most commonly reported adverse reactions (5%) with BENLYSTA were nausea, diarrhea, pyrexia, nasopharyngitis, bronchitis, insomnia, pain in extremity, depression, migraine, and pharyngitis.
ABOUT BENLYSTA
BENLYSTA (belimumab) is the first in a new class of drugs called BLyS-specific inhibitors. Belimumab blocks the binding of soluble BLyS, a B-cell survival factor, to its receptors on B cells. Belimumab does not bind B cells directly, but by binding BLyS, belimumab inhibits the survival of B cells, including autoreactive B cells, and reduces the differentiation of B cells into immunoglobulin-producing plasma cells. BLyS is a naturally occurring protein which was discovered by HGS in 1996.
BENLYSTA is made available as a lyophilized powder in single-use vials for intravenous infusion only and must be reconstituted and diluted by a healthcare professional prior to administration.
GSK submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for BENLYSTA to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in June 2010. Regulatory applications have also been submitted and are currently under consideration in Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil and The Philippines.
CONFERENCE CALL
HGS management will hold a conference call to discuss this announcement this evening at 6:30 PM Eastern. Investors may listen to the call by dialing 877-419-6603 or 719-325-4792, passcode 7763102, five to 10 minutes before the start of the call. A replay of the conference call will be available within a few hours after the call ends. Investors may listen to the replay by dialing 888-203-1112 or 719-457-0820, confirmation code 7763102. Today's conference call also will be webcast and can be accessed at www.hgsi.com. Investors interested in listening to the live webcast should log on before the conference call begins to download any software required. Both the audio replay and the archive of the conference call webcast will remain available for several days.
ABOUT THE HGS/GSK COLLABORATION
HGS and GSK are developing belimumab under a definitive co-development and co-commercialization agreement entered into in 2006. Under the agreement, HGS had responsibility for conducting the belimumab Phase 3 trials, with assistance from GSK. The companies share equally in Phase 3/4 development costs, sales and marketing expenses, and profits of any product commercialized under the current agreement.
ABOUT GLAXOSMITHKLINE
GlaxoSmithKline - one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com. GSK Biopharm R&D is employing novel approaches to harness the therapeutic potential of biopharmaceuticals for the benefit of patients with serious autoimmune disease.
ABOUT HUMAN GENOME SCIENCES
Human Genome Sciences exists to place new therapies into the hands of those battling serious disease.
For more information about HGS, please visit the Company's web site at www.hgsi.com. Health professionals and patients interested in clinical trials of HGS products may inquire via e-mail to [email protected] e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by calling HGS at (877) 822-8472. HGS, Human Genome Sciences and BENLYSTA are trademarks of Human Genome Sciences, Inc. Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.