Novartis drug Signifor recommended by CHMP for EU approval to treat patients with Cushing's disease

24-Jan-2012 - Switzerland

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion for Signifor® (SOM230, pasireotide) for the treatment of Cushing's disease. There are currently no approved medicines in the European Union (EU) targeting Cushing's disease, a debilitating endocrine disorder caused by excess cortisol in the body due to the presence of a non-cancerous pituitary tumor.

The CHMP positive opinion is based on data from the Phase III PASPORT-CUSHINGS (PASireotide clinical trial PORTfolio - CUSHING'S disease) trial, the largest randomized study to evaluate a medical therapy in patients with Cushing's disease.

In the study, patients were randomized to receive pasireotide subcutaneous (sc) injection in doses of 900µg and 600µg twice daily. For the 900µg group, the study met the primary endpoint of normalizing urinary-free cortisol (UFC) levels, the key measure of biochemical control of the disease.

Urinary-free cortisol levels were normalized in 26.3% and 14.6% of patients randomized to receive pasireotide 900µg and 600µg twice daily, respectively, at six months of treatment. After 12 months of treatment, results confirmed the durability of the effect. On average, as UFC levels were reduced, clinical manifestations of Cushing's disease improved including reduction of blood pressure, total cholesterol, weight and body mass index.

The most frequently reported adverse events (AE) (>10%) by investigators for pasireotide were diarrhea, nausea, hyperglycemia, cholelithiasis, abdominal pain, diabetes mellitus, injection site reactions, fatigue and increased glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), with most events being Grade 1-2. The tolerability profile of pasireotide was similar to that of other somatostatin analogs with the exception of the greater degree of hyperglycemia.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/136100/novartis-drug-signifor-recommended-by-chmp-for-eu-approval-to-treat-patients-with-cushing-s-disease.html