Every quarter, PharmaCompass compiles the latest Drug Master Files (DMFs) submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These applications provide an overview of products which active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers are investing their resources in and also give a sneak preview into the next possible first-to-file (FoF) generic challenges to patented drugs. Here are the key findings from the compilation for the first
quarter of 2016: Compliance problems
aside, India tops the DMF submissionsIf news about compliance problems faced by pharma companies
in India and China are making you believe that there is a slowdown in these
countries, think again. A total of 190 DMF submissions were made in the first
quarter of 2016, up from 180 in the previous quarter. And over two-thirds of
the submissions were for products from facilities based in either India or
China with more than 100 filings from India alone. Companies that have been on the compliance radar recently – such as Ipca
Laboratories, Emcure
Pharmaceuticals, Minsheng
Group Shaoxing Pharmaceutical and Yincheng Goto – also made submissions to the FDA. Besides these, Qilu
Pharmaceutical, which was in the news recently for the controversy in China
involving school children, also submitted its DMFs this quarter. Teriflunomide leads DMF
race; Carfilzomib is the new molecule on the blockLast quarter, Teriflunomide saw the maximum number of DMF submissions – four. This quarter too, Teriflunomide led the pack with maximum submissions – six. This is an indication that Sanofi’s
multiple sclerosis drug will be subject to severe competition in the coming
future.Amgen acquired Onyx
Pharmaceuticals for US $ 10.4 billion in 2013 primarily to cash in on the potential of Kyprolis
(carfilzomib), a cancer-treatment drug. While analysts had estimated peak sales of US $ 1.6 billion as a result of this acquisition, sales in 2014 turned out to be only US $ 331 million – a fifth of their estimates. However, things looked up in 2015 as Kyprolis brought in US $ 512 million in sales. Amgen needs to quickly capitalize on the opportunity as six more DMFs were submitted this quarter, indicating a severe generic onslaught whenever the drug goes off patent. Enzalutamide has been in news recently as Medivation, the US
cancer drug company that discovered the molecule, has finally become open to a
sell-off after Sanofi offered US $ 9.3 billion to buy the cancer drug
maker. Even as Sanofi tries to acquire Medivation, generic activity is underway
with three more DMF submissions this quarter. MSN Labs leads the FoF
challenges and filingsMSN Laboratories may not be well-known in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, but the company is growing from strength to strength each quarter with its capabilities of developing non-infringing routes for APIs and being one of the first companies to submit DMFs.This quarter, MSN
Laboratories and its subsidiaries submitted 20 DMFs, which is more than 10 percent of all applications filed. MSN’s filings include Apremilast
(Celgene’s Otezla), Bosutinib
(Pfizer’s
Bosulif), Macitentan
(Actelion’s
Opsumit) and Vortioxetine
Hydrobromide (Takeda’s
Brintellix) Innovative filings In
the worksBiotin, a water soluble Vitamin B, is claimed to aid nail and hair growth. If French biotech startup -- Medday Pharmaceuticals – succeeds in its Phase III trials, its lead product MD1003, a pharmaceutical grade
D-Biotin, would improve the lives of patients suffering from progressive
multiple sclerosis (MS).MedDay and DSM Nutritional Products had earlier announced a
partnership and co-investment for manufacturing pharmaceutical grade D-Biotin.
This quarter DSM submitted its DMF for Biotin.Switzerland-based biopharmaceutical company Debiopharm’s
Salvacyl®, Moapar® has been used mainly for the treatment of prostate cancer. Now, armed with a new indication, the three-month formulation of triptorelin – which has been registered in several European countries to treat severe sexual deviation in adult men (for instance, paedophilia) – saw a DMF submission this quarter indicating a potential launch of this product in the US.Dimethyl fumarate (Biogen’s Tecfidera) led
the list of DMF filings last quarter as the brand product generated sales of US
$ 3.64 billion in 2015 and is projected to achieve US $
5.56 billion by 2020. While generic companies have been targeting Dimethyl Fumarate, Hyderabad-headquartered
Honour Labs – a company promoted by Dr B Parthasaradhi Reddy
who is also the promoter of generic major Hetero Drugs – filed a DMF for Monomethyl Fumarate. It would be interesting to see if this minor tweaking in the
molecular structure could lead to a windfall gain for Hetero. Our viewWith drug filings ranging from cannabis extract to amphetamines
to generic paracetamol,
the first quarter of 2016 displayed that the API industry is extremely active
with new product development. You can view the PharmaCompass
compilation of the new DMF filings by clicking here or simply by sending us an
email to get your own Excel version of the new submissions.
Click here to view all the submissions of the first quarter of 2016 (Excel version available) for FREE!
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