Pfenex Receives US FDA Approval for PF708 to Treat Osteoporosis

Pfenex Inc. recently announced the US FDA has approved the new drug application (NDA) for PF708 submitted under the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, with Forteo (teriparatide injection) as the reference drug. Like Forteo, the FDA-approved PF708 product is indicated for the treatment of osteoporosis in certain patients at high risk for fracture.

“The FDA’s approval of PF708 marks a major milestone in Pfenex’s history as our first approved commercial product and further validates our Pfēnex Expression Technology platform. We look forward to continuing to work with our commercialization partner Alvogen to launch PF708 in the US. We believe PF708 has the potential to significantly enhance patient access to an important therapy as a cost-effective alternative to Forteo, which had $1.6 billion in global sales in 2018,” said Eef Schimmelpennink, Chief Executive Officer of Pfenex.

Pfenex is also asking the FDA to designate PF708 as therapeutically equivalent (“A” rated) to Forteo, which would permit PF708 to be automatically substituted for Forteo in many states. To further support an “A” rating, Pfenex is conducting a comparative human factors study between PF708 and Forteo as requested by FDA. Pfenex anticipates submitting the final study report to the FDA as early as the second half of October 2019 and believes that this completes the information package required by the FDA to evaluate the therapeutic equivalence of PF708.

“Looking ahead, we are confident in the planning that Alvogen has done thus far in preparation for the commercial launch of PF708 and their established sales and marketing teams are excited to bring PF708 to market. To optimize patient and payer impact, we currently expect our commercial partner Alvogen to launch PF708 upon an FDA decision on the therapeutic equivalence rating,” concluded Mr. Schimmelpennink.

PF708 is approved in the U.S. under the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, with Forteo (teriparatide injection) as the reference drug.  The US approved PF708 product is indicated for the treatment of osteoporosis in certain patients at high risk for fracture.  Pursuant to the Development and License Agreement with Alvogen, Alvogen is responsible for commercializing and manufacturing PF708 in the US and for fulfilling all regulatory requirements associated with maintaining the PF708 NDA. Alvogen also has exclusive rights to commercialize and manufacture PF708 in the EU, certain countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and the rest of world (ROW) territories (the latter defined as all countries outside of the EU, US, and MENA, excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand). PF708 has been filed and accepted with the EMA using the biosimilar pathway with Forsteo as the reference medicinal product. Forteo and Forsteo are approved and marketed by Eli Lilly companies for the treatment of osteoporosis in certain patients with a high risk of fracture. Forteo achieved $1.6 billion in global product sales in 2018.

Pfenex is a development and licensing biotechnology company focused on leveraging its Pfēnex Expression Technology to develop and improve protein therapies for unmet patient needs. Using the patented Pfēnex Expression Technology platform, Pfenex has created an advanced pipeline of potential therapeutic equivalents, vaccines, biologics and biosimilars. Pfenex’s lead product candidate is PF708, a therapeutic equivalent candidate to Forteo (teriparatide injection) which has been approved in the U.S. for the treatment of osteoporosis in certain patients at high risk of osteoporosis, and for which marketing authorization applications are pending in other jurisdictions. In addition, Pfenex is developing hematology/oncology products in collaboration with Jazz Pharmaceuticals, including PF743, a recombinant crisantaspase, and PF745, a recombinant crisantaspase with half-life extension technology.  Pfenex also uses its Pfēnex Expression Technology platform to produce CRM197, a diphtheria toxoid carrier protein used in prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.