Agios Submits MAA to EMA for Mitapivat for Treatment of Adults With Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced it has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for mitapivat to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of adults with pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency in the European Union. This submission follows the company’s recent New Drug Application (NDA) submission of mitapivat to the US FDA for treatment of adults with PK deficiency in the US.

“With both our NDA and MAA filings, we are poised to deliver the first potentially disease-modifying therapy for people with PK deficiency, a chronic, lifelong hemolytic anemia characterized by serious complications affecting multiple organs,” said Chris Bowden, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Agios. “There are no approved therapies for PK deficiency, and the current management strategies of blood transfusions and splenectomy are associated with both short- and long-term risks, including iron overload, blood clots and increased risk for infections. PK deficiency can lead to chronic fatigue, hemolytic crisis, gallstones, splenomegaly, liver cirrhosis, pulmonary hypertension and osteoporosis, and the burden of disease can take a toll on patients’ ability to navigate work and other day-to-day activities, as well as on their mental health. We are looking forward to working with both the FDA and EMA to provide a potential new treatment option for this community that may help address the significant unmet needs of PK deficiency patients.”

Like the NDA, the MAA submission is based on results from two pivotal studies, ACTIVATE and ACTIVATE-T, conducted in not regularly transfused and regularly transfused adults with PK deficiency, respectively. A full analysis of these data – including patient-reported outcomes (PRO) – was recently presented at the European Hematology Association (EHA) Virtual Congress. An extension study for adults with PK deficiency previously enrolled in ACTIVATE or ACTIVATE-T is ongoing and designed to evaluate the long-term safety, tolerability and efficacy of treatment with mitapivat.

Pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency is a rare, inherited disease that presents as chronic hemolytic anemia, which is the accelerated destruction of red blood cells. The inherited mutations in PKR genes cause a deficit in energy within the red blood cell, as evidenced by lower PK enzyme activity, a decline in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels and a build-up of upstream metabolites, including 2,3-DPG (2,3-diphosphoglycerate).

PK deficiency is associated with serious complications, including gallstones, pulmonary hypertension, extramedullary hematopoiesis, osteoporosis and iron overload and its sequelae, which can occur regardless of the degree of anemia or transfusion burden. PK deficiency can also cause quality of life problems, including challenges with work and school activities, social life and emotional health. Current management strategies for PK deficiency, including red blood cell transfusions and splenectomy, are associated with both short- and long-term risks. There are no currently approved therapies for PK deficiency. For more information, visit www.knowpkdeficiency.com.

Agios, in partnership with PerkinElmer Genomics, launched the Anemia ID program to offer no-cost genetic testing to eligible patients in the U.S with suspected hereditary anemias, including PK deficiency. The program was created in response to feedback from patients, advocates and physicians about the need for improved diagnosis to inform disease management decisions. For more information, visit www.AnemiaID.com.

Agios is focused on discovering and developing novel investigational medicines to treat genetically defined diseases through scientific leadership in the field of cellular metabolism. The company’s most advanced drug candidate is a first-in-class pyruvate kinase R (PKR) activator, mitapivat, that is currently being evaluated for the treatment of three distinct hemolytic anemias. In addition to its active late-stage clinical pipeline, Agios has multiple novel, investigational therapies in clinical and preclinical development. For more information, visit www.agios.com.