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Roche/Trimeris gives up on device to inject HIV drug
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http://www.bizjournals.com
A medical device that Trimeris once thought could be the key to boosting sales of its HIV drug Fuzeon has fallen short of that mark.
Trimeris, headquartered in Morrisville, said Wednesday that it's withdrawing an application with drug regulators to market Fuzeon in tandem with the device, known as the Biojector 2000.
The device, which delivers a drug after puncturing a small hole in the skin, caused nerve pain lasting up to six months in patients who took Fuzeon with it, Trimeris said. The company also said it's possible that the Biojector leads to a higher risk of post-injection bleeding in patients who have hemophilia or are taking blood thinners.
Trimeris and its partner, Swiss drug giant Roche, said those factors led them to withdraw their application with the Food and Drug Administration to market the drug and the device together.
"While the device has shown potential benefit for some patients, we don't believe it's the ideal alternative delivery option for all treatment-experienced patients," Roche Vice President Michelle Zupancic said in a written statement. "We continue to review other options for administering FUZEON."
Warnings about nerve pain and hematoma in conjunction with using the Biojector are already on Fuzeon's label thanks to data that Roche collected in two major studies of the device. The second of those two studies failed to turn up data that showed more promise.
Further, a statement e-mailed by spokesperson Mike Nelson says, the Biojector has other problems - including the fact that it wasn't designed for personal use and its high cost - that aren't outweighed by its potential benefits.
A Trimeris representative wasn't immediately available for comment.
Trimeris once hoped that use of the Biojector would boost sales of Fuzeon. The drug is effective at fighting HIV, but sales have been disappointing in part because it's typically delivered through painful injections that leave bumps on a patient's body.
But trials quickly showed that the device wasn't the cure-all Trimeris had sought. Documents that Trimeris filed with securities regulators indicate that while it did reduce pain in many patients, the Biojector's potential to create adverse effects led the FDA to seek more information before it would approve the device's use with Fuzeon.
The Biojector 2000 is manufactured by an Oregon company called Bioject Medical Technologies (Nasdaq: BJCT). Shares of that company, which briefly traded above $16 in early 2000, closed in Wednesday trading at $1.41.
Trimeris (Nasdaq: TRMS) was down 2.5 percent in after-hours trading to $8.21. The company has seen its stock jump up 24 percent in the past three months thanks to activist investor HealthCor, which has been upping its stake in Trimeris and pushing the company to make a sale.
Roche and Trimeris Provide Update on Development of Alternative Administration Options for Delivery of FUZEON
-- Companies withdraw application to market Biojector 2000 device for use with Fuzeon --
NUTLEY, N.J. and MORRISVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 3, 2007) - Roche and Trimeris, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRMS) today provided an update on our efforts to offer a needle-free device which has been investigated for use with FUZEON (enfuvirtide). Based on comprehensive assessment of the clinical program, as well a significant delay in achieving U.S. regulatory approval due to the time required to generate additional data, Roche and Trimeris are withdrawing a supplemental application for approval to market the Biojector 2000 device (known as "B2000" and manufactured by Bioject Medical Technologies, Inc.) for use with FUZEON.
Importantly, Roche and Trimeris believe that patients who are currently administering FUZEON with the device through an existing program or clinical trial may continue to do so, provided that the precautions in the current FUZEON label regarding use with B2000 are followed. We recognize that B2000 is commercially available for general use.
"As part of our efforts to find administration alternatives, Roche and Trimeris have invested considerable resources to leverage the benefits of the B2000 device for use with FUZEON. While the device has shown potential benefit for some patients, we don't believe it's the ideal alternative delivery option for all treatment-experienced patients. We continue to review other options for administering FUZEON," said Michelle Zupancic, Vice President, HIV, Roche. "In addition, we continue to offer Nurse Connections, a free support program that provides patients in the U.S. with personalized, in-home instruction from a highly-trained nurse."
Facts About FUZEON
Administered via one 90 mg injection twice-daily, FUZEON is the first and only fusion inhibitor for the treatment of HIV. Unlike other HIV drugs that work after HIV has entered the human immune cell, FUZEON works outside the CD4 cell, blocking HIV from entering the cell. For this reason, FUZEON is effective in treatment-experienced patients who have developed resistance to other anti-HIV drugs, though patients may still develop resistance to FUZEON. FUZEON was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2003 on the basis of 24-week data, and was granted traditional (full) approval on Oct. 15, 2004 on the basis of long-term 48-week data.
FUZEON is indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV in treatment-experienced patients with evidence of HIV-1 replication despite ongoing antiretroviral therapy.
Injection Site Reactions (ISRs): ISRs are the most common adverse events associated with FUZEON. ISRs occurred in 98% of patients studied and 4% discontinued FUZEON due to ISRs. Signs/symptoms may include pain and discomfort, hardened skin, redness, bumps, itching and swelling. Eleven percent of patients had local reactions that required analgesics or limited usual activities.
Pneumonia: An increased rate of bacterial pneumonia was observed in subjects treated with FUZEON in the Phase III clinical trials compared to the control arm. It is unclear if the increased incidence of pneumonia is related to FUZEON use. Patients with HIV infection should be carefully monitored for signs and symptoms of pneumonia. Risk factors for pneumonia included low initial CD4 cell count, high initial viral load, intravenous drug use, smoking and a prior history of lung disease.
Hypersensitivity Reactions: Systemic hypersensitivity reactions have been associated with FUZEON therapy and may recur on rechallenge. Hypersensitivity reactions have included individually and in combination: rash, fever, nausea and vomiting, chills, rigors, hypotension and elevated serum liver transaminases. Other adverse events that may be immune mediated and have been reported in subjects receiving FUZEON include primary immune complexreaction, respiratory distress, glomerulonephritis and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Administration with Biojector2000: Nerve pain (neuralgia and/or parethesia) lasting up to six months associated with administration at anatomical sites where large nerves course close to the skin, bruising and hematomas have occurred with the use of the Biojector 2000 needle-free device for administration of FUZEON. Patients receiving anticoagulants or persons with hemophilia, or other coagulation disorders, may have a higher risk of post-injection bleeding.
Other Adverse Events: The events most frequently reported in patients receiving FUZEON plus an optimized background regimen were diarrhea (32%), nausea (23%) and fatigue (20%). These events were seen at a lower incidence in patients taking a FUZEON-based regimen compared to those receiving an optimized background regimen without FUZEON when taking into account the uneven number of patients in each arm and the length of time they are in that arm. As measured in number per 100 patient years, the incidence was: diarrhea (38 per 100 patient-years in subjects receiving FUZEON-based regimens vs. 73 per 100 patient-years in patients who did not receive FUZEON), nausea (27 vs. 50, respectively) and fatigue (24 vs. 38, respectively).
Roche in HIV
Roche is at the forefront of efforts to combat HIV infection and AIDS, committed for more than 15 years to groundbreaking research and development of new drugs and diagnostic technology. The objective is to provide tailored treatment solutions and an improved standard of care worldwide for those people living with HIV.
About Roche
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (Roche), based in Nutley, N.J., is the U.S. pharmaceuticals headquarters of the Roche Group, one of the world's leading research-oriented healthcare groups with core businesses in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. For more than 100 years, the Roche Group has been committed to developing innovative products and services that address prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, thus enhancing people's health and quality of life. An employer of choice, in 2006, Roche was named one of the Top 20 Employers (Science magazine), ranked the No. 1 Company to Sell For (Selling Power), and one of AARP's Top Companies for Older Workers, and in 2005, Roche was named one of Fortune magazine's Best Companies to Work For in America. For additional information about the U.S. pharmaceuticals business, visit our websites: http://www.rocheusa.com or www.roche.us.
About Trimeris, Inc.
Trimeris, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRMS) is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of viral disease. The core technology platform of fusion inhibition is based on blocking viral entry into host cells. FUZEON, approved in the U.S., Canada and European Union, is the first in a new class of anti-HIV drugs called fusion inhibitors. For more information about Trimeris, please visit the Company's website at http://www.trimeris.com.
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