In case you thought Covid-19 had slowed down the speed at
which generic active
pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers were submitting Drug Master Files (DMFs) to the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), you are in for a pleasant surprise.
During the first half of this year, the industry maintained its momentum of
filing DMFs with the FDA.
In the
first six months of this year, FDA received 283 DMF submissions (against 616
for the full year of 2019). Expectedly, India continued to lead with 155 DMF
filings. Submissions from India were more than double the amount of those made
by Chinese (45) and American firms (30) combined.
This
trend has been witnessed for some time now. In 2019, out of the 616 active DMF submissions to the FDA, Indian
companies had submitted more than half (331), though the submissions from India
were a little less than double of those made by Chinese and American firms.
Drug
master files (DMFs) are submissions made to the FDA by manufacturers who
provide the agency with confidential, detailed information about facilities, processes,
or articles used in manufacturing, processing, packaging, and storing of
human drug products.View FDA DMF Filings by June 2020 (Power BI Dashboard, Free Excel Available)
India’s MSN Labs leads total count of DMF filings
As in the past, India’s MSN Laboratories continued to
lead the DMF filings by a single company with 40 submissions, followed by Dr Reddy’s (8) and Metrochem API (7).
MSN has always been a pioneer in being the first to file a DMF for new products. This year was no different. The firm submitted the first DMF for 11 products — Abaloparatide, Abemaciclib, Amifampridine Phosphate, Betrixaban Maleate, Fenfluramine Hydrochloride, Lofexidine Hydrochloride, Neratinib Maleate, Ozenoxacin, Rolapitant Hydrochloride, Tafamidis, Valbenazine Tosylate.
There
were also first DMF filings by AMRI (Brexanolone), Formosa Laboratories (Elagolix Sodium), Glenmark Life Sciences (Solriamfetol Hydrochloride) and Hikal (Ertugliflozin L-Pyroglutamic Acid).
The API
DMF is part of the final generic drug product submission to the FDA. Therefore,
the owner of a DMF incurs a one-time fee, the first time the generic drug
submission references that DMF. DMF holders may also pay the fee in advance in
order to have their DMF subjected to an initial completeness assessment by the
FDA. This would allow their DMF to be included on a publicly available list of
DMFs that have paid their fee and have not failed the initial completeness
assessment.
View FDA DMF Filings by June 2020 (Power BI Dashboard, Free Excel Available)
Assessment
review of only 62 DMFs completed by the FDA
While 283 DMFs were submitted to the FDA, only 22 percent of them — or 62 DMFs — have had their assessment review completed by the FDA so far. The GDUFA fee associated with a DMF assessment review for the current fiscal year is US$ 57,795. It has been revised upward
to US$ 69,921 (an increase of US$ 12,126) for the upcoming fiscal year, which
starts in October.
Although
MSN led in the number of DMF filings, it had no assessments completed for its
DMF submissions in the first half of the year. Three Indian companies, Aurobindo, Honour Lab and Intas, and one Chinese company, Jiangsu Hengrui, led in the maximum (three
each) number of assessments completed by the FDA.
The
products with the most commonly filed DMFs were Brivaracetam, Cetrorelix, Edaravone and Lifitegrast, with four
submissions each.
DMF filings also help provide insights into some of the new
drug approvals that can be expected in the future. In the first half of the
year, we witnessed submissions for Dapoxetine Hydrochloride (MSN), Fasoracetam (MSN), Indoximod (MSN), Resiniferatoxin (Indena), Omidenepag Isopropyl (UBE Industries), Treosulphan (Fermion), Roxadustat (Dr Reddy’s), Bexagliflozin (Piramal), Antazoline Phosphate (Metrochem)
and Dyphylline (Shanghai Wonder) which are all products that
have currently not been approved by the FDA and could potentially be approved
in the future.View FDA DMF Filings by June 2020 (Power BI Dashboard, Free Excel Available)
Our view
The Covid
crisis and the surging demand for APIs like hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir and dexamethasone has revealed the global
dependence on India and China for APIs.
India, a
prominent API manufacturer, admitted to its extreme dependence on China
for APIs and intermediates when it shared a list of products which
included antibiotics, vitamins, hormones and even commonly used medicines
like aspirin and paracetamol.
In July this year, India announced the guidelines for its schemes for the development of bulk drugs and medical device parks across the country. These schemes are part of India’s self-reliance campaign. Similar reshoring initiatives have been announced by the United States, France
and Japan, and many other countries
also want to reduce their reliance on China.
While shifting supply chains is certainly a long drawn out process, the wheels have definitely started to turn. It remains to be seen what impact these initiatives will have on the DMF filings with the FDA in the next few quarters.
View FDA DMF Filings by June 2020 (Power BI Dashboard, Free Excel Available)
Impressions: 58663
Each year,
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve hundreds
of new medications. A small subset of approvals, classified as novel drugs, are considered to
be truly innovative products that often help advance clinical care.
In 2015, the
FDA approved 45 novel drugs, an all-time record high. PharmaCompass has compiled a list of novel drugs approved by the FDA in 2015.The FDA also approved new dosage forms of existing products in the market (email us if you would like a copy), like the 3D printed version of anti-epilepsy drug, Spritam (Levetiracetam).
This week, PharmaCompass focuses on the new dosage
forms of existing drugs that got approved last year.
Modified blockbusters
Improving the delivery form of a blockbuster drug is something that not only helps patients but often successfully extends the patent life of the cash-generating drugs for Big Pharma. Here are some blockbuster drugs that saw their modified versions being launched in 2015:
Jadenu (deferasirox): With
almost a billion dollars in revenues in 2015, Exjade (deferasirox) was approved in 2005 as a
tablet for use in a suspension. Novartis, the innovator,
got approval in March 2015
for Jadenu, a once-daily oral tablet. Jadenu (deferasirox), a new formulation
of Exjade, is the only once-daily oral tablet for iron chelation. Jadenu has
simplified daily treatment administration for patients with chronic iron
overload.
Nexium
24HR (esomeprazole magnesium): Also
known as the Purple Pill, Nexium – Astra
Zeneca’s blockbuster drug for acid reflux that generated annual sales in America of more than US $ 3 billion – went generic in 2015. In order to extend Nexium’s market, Pfizer and AstraZeneca came together to promote an over-the-counter (OTC) version of Nexium. A capsule version of OTC Nexium was approved in 2014 and is known as
Nexium 24HR. Last year, the FDA granted approval to the tablet form of the
drug.
Iressa
(gefitinib): AstraZeneca re-introduced Iressa in
the US market in 2015. The
FDA had approved Gefitinib in May 2003 for non-small cell lung cancer. Approved
as a third-line therapy, in 2010 the FDA requested AstraZeneca to voluntarily withdraw Iressa tablets
from the market, as post-marketing studies had failed
to verify and confirm clinical benefit. Iressa (gefitinib) is now back in the US as a first-line therapy for a type of lung cancer. However, the patent protection is limited – only one listed patent in the Orange Book which expires next year, and five US Drug Master Files already submitted.
Onivyde (irinotecan): Liposomal formulation of anti-cancer
drugs have been in vogue for some time. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals got its novel encapsulation of Irinotecan in a liposomal formulation approved for the
treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, sold under the brand
name Onivyde.
Vivlodex (meloxicam): In October 2015, the FDA approved 5 mg and 10 mg (administered once daily) doses of Vivlodex™ (meloxicam) capsules, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used for the management of osteoarthritis pain. The previously approved doses for meloxicam capsules were 7.5mg and 15mg. Vivlodex uses a proprietary SoluMatrix Fine Particle Technology™, which contains meloxicam as submicron particles that are approximately 10 times smaller than their original size. The reduction in particle size provides an increased surface area, leading to faster dissolution.
Kalydeco (ivacaftor): A cystic fibrosis drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals – Kalydeco – has been making headlines
because of its high price (more than US $ 300,000 a year). Price concerns
aside, 2015 saw the launch of a pediatric version of the drug as a ‘weight-based oral granule formulation of Kalydeco that can be mixed in soft foods or liquids’.
Extended release versions
Many of
the approvals granted by the FDA last year were to extended release
formulations (a pill formulated so that the drug is released slowly) of
existing drugs.
Kremers Urban’s
extended release version of Methylphenidate
capsules made headlines last year because of a reclassification of the drug by
the FDA. Under the new classification rating, methylphenidate hydrochloride extended-release tablets can be prescribed but may
not be automatically substituted for J&J’s reference drug Concerta (methylphenidate hydrochloride). Kremers Urban was almost sold last year. But due to this reclassification, investors aborted their US $ 1.53 billion buyout. Kremers Urban was later acquired by Lannett Company Inc.
In
addition, extended-release versions of Aspirin, Carbidopa/Levodopa, Paliperidone Palmitate, Tacrolimus
and Morphine Sulphate also received green signals for a market launch.
First generic opportunities
Last year, PharmaCompass
shared the names of some drugs which had no generic competition and were also
not protected by patents. (Read: “Litigation Free, first generic opportunities list”).
Deferiprone (a drug that chelates iron and is
used to treat iron overload in thalassemia major) met the criteria. But it still
has no generic competitor and is now available as a new dosage form.
Amedra Pharmaceuticals, now owned by Impax Laboratories, has enjoyed the rights to sell Albendazole tablets for almost two decades
without generic competition in the US. Albendazole is a medication used for the
treatment of a variety of parasitic worm infestations. In 2015, patients were
provided access to chewable tablets of Albendazole.
New combinations at work
The FDA also approved
multiple combination drugs where the individual active ingredients had been brought
to market previously.
Most of the combination drugs
approved belong to major pharma players like Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Bristol Myers etc.
Boehringer’s diabetes treatments – Jardiance (empagliflozin) – approved in 2014 and
Tradjenta (linagliptin) approved in 2011, were
combined and the combination drug product Glyxambi was approved in 2015. Another
combination of empagliflozin, with metformin – Synjardy – was also approved in August last
year.
Lesser known companies also
got combination drugs approved. UK-based
development company Vernalis got approval for its cold-cough treatment, Tuzistra XR – an extended release suspension of codeine polistirex and chlorpheniramine
polistirex.
Similarly, US-based biopharmaceutical startup, Spriaso LLC, also
working in the cold and cough therapeutic area, got an extended release tablet
containing codeine phosphate and chlorpheniramine maleate approved.
Symplmed, a company which is
developing various forms of Perindopril, got approval for Prestalia (a
combination of perindopril arginine and amlodipine besylate) for the
treatment of hypertension.
Our view
Each year, the FDA approves several
pharmaceutical drugs in order to improve patient care; and often versions of
these drugs are marketed and distributed across the globe.
PharmaCompass’ list of drugs approved in 2015 is now available – just email us for your copy.
Accelerate your drug development
PharmaCompass has also launched
the Drug Development Assistance tool on its platform.
Simply search for the drug or the active ingredient of your interest, click on the Drug Development icon on the left menu bar and you can see the inactive ingredients used to formulate
the various drug products approved in the United States.
Impressions: 5419