SAN DIEGO , Dec. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) today announced that the European Commission has approved Roche's Phesgo ® , a fixed-dose combination of Perjeta ® (pertuzumab) and Herceptin ® (trastuzumab) with Halozyme's ENHANZE ® technology, administered by subcutaneous injection for the treatment of patients with early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. This is the first time the European Commission has approved a product combining two monoclonal antibodies that can be administered by a single subcutaneous injection utilizing Halozyme's ENHANZE ® technology.
"We are pleased that HER2-positive breast cancer patients in Europe will now have the option to receive this important therapy in a substantially shorter period of time than standard IV therapy," said Dr. Helen Torley , president and chief executive officer. "The approval of Phesgo ® in Europe closes out a terrific year for Halozyme in which we received multiple regulatory clearances for products utilizing our ENHANZE ® technology, including 2 U.S. FDA approvals and now two European Commission approvals."
Phesgo ® is available in single-dose vials and can be administered via subcutaneous injection in approximately eight minutes for the initial loading dose and approximately five minutes for each subsequent maintenance dose. (1) This is compared to approximately 150 minutes for a sequential infusion of a loading dose of Perjeta ® and Herceptin ® using the standard IV formulations, and between 60-150 minutes for subsequent maintenance infusions of the two medicines. (2,3)
The approval of Phesgo ® in Europe is based on results from the pivotal phase III FeDeriCa study, which met its primary endpoint, with Phesgo ® showing non-inferior levels of Perjeta ® and Herceptin ® in the blood and demonstrated comparable efficacy versus IV administration of the two medicines. The safety profile of Phesgo ® with chemotherapy was comparable to IV administration of Perjeta ® plus Herceptin ® and chemotherapy. No new safety signals were identified, including no meaningful difference in cardiac toxicity. (1,4)
Phesgo ® has the potential to help minimize pressure on healthcare systems by reducing administration time, as well as other costs associated with treatment, such as time spent in the infusion chair and drug preparation (5) . In addition, Roche's phase II PHranceSCa study showed that 85% (136/160) of people receiving treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer preferred treatment under the skin to IV administration due to less time in the clinic and more comfortable treatment administration. (1)
About ENHANZE ® Technology
Halozyme's proprietary ENHANZE ® drug-delivery technology is based on its patented recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20). rHuPH20 has been shown to remove traditional limitations on the volume of biologics that can be delivered subcutaneously (just under the skin). By using rHuPH20, some biologics and compounds that are administered intravenously may instead be delivered subcutaneously. ENHANZE ® may also benefit subcutaneous biologics by reducing the need for multiple injections. This delivery has been shown in studies to reduce health care practitioner time required for administration and shorten time for drug administration.
About Halozyme
Halozyme is a biopharmaceutical company bringing disruptive solutions to significantly improve patient experiences and outcomes for emerging and established therapies. Halozyme advises and supports its biopharmaceutical partners in key aspects of new drug development with the goal of improving patients' lives while helping its partners achieve global commercial success. As the innovators of the ENHANZE ® technology, which can reduce hours-long treatments to a matter of minutes, Halozyme's commercially-validated solution has positively impacted more than 400,000 patient lives via five commercialized products across more than 100 global markets. Halozyme and its world-class partners are currently advancing multiple therapeutic programs intended to deliver innovative therapies, with the potential to improve the lives of patients around the globe. Halozyme's proprietary enzyme rHuPH20 forms the basis of the ENHANZE ® technology and is used to facilitate the delivery of injected drugs and fluids, potentially reducing the treatment burden of other drugs to patients. Halozyme has licensed its ENHANZE ® technology to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including Roche, Baxalta, Pfizer, Janssen, AbbVie, Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Alexion, argenx and Horizon Therapeutics. Halozyme derives revenues from these collaborations in the form of milestones and royalties as the Company's partners make progress developing and commercializing their products being developed with ENHANZE ® . Halozyme is headquartered in San Diego . For more information visit www.halozyme.com .
Halozyme Safe Harbor Statement
In addition to historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements concerning the possible activity, benefits and attributes of ENHANZE ® , the possible method of action of ENHANZE ® , its potential application to aid in the dispersion and absorption of other injected therapeutic drugs, and statements concerning certain other potential benefits of ENHANZE ® including facilitating more rapid delivery of injectable medications through subcutaneous delivery and potentially lowering the treatment burden for patients and treatment costs. These forward-looking statements also include statements regarding the product development efforts of Halozyme's ENHANZE ® partner including clinical trial results. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified through use of the words "believe," "enable," "may," "will," "could," "intends," "estimate," "anticipate," "plan," "predict," "probable," "potential," "possible," "should," "continue," and other words of similar meaning. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations contained in forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including uncertainties concerning whether collaborative products are ultimately developed or commercialized, unexpected expenditures and costs, unexpected results or delays in development and regulatory review including any potential delays caused by the current COVID-19 global pandemic, unexpected regulatory approval requirements, unexpected treatment costs, adverse events or patient outcomes from being treated with the newly-approved ENHANZE ® co-formulated product referred to in this press release, and competitive conditions. These and other factors that may result in differences are discussed in greater detail in Halozyme's most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Halozyme undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.
References:
(1) US Food and Drug Administration. Prescribing information for Phesgo.
(2) US Food and Drug Administration. Prescribing Information for Herceptin. [Internet; cited June 2020 ]. Available from: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2010/103792s5250lbl.pdf .
(3) US Food and Drug Administration. Prescribing Information for Perjeta [Internet; cited June 2020 ]. Available from: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2017/125409s113s118lbl.pdf .
(4) Tan A, et al. Subcutaneous administration of the fixed-dose combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab in combination with chemotherapy in HER2-positive early breast cancer: primary analysis of the phase III, multicenter, randomized, open-label, two-arm FeDeriCa study. Presented at SABCS, 2019 Dec 10-14 ; San Antonio, Texas . Abstract #PD4-07.
(5) Tjalma, et al. Trastuzumab IV versus SC: A time, motion and cost assessment in a lean operating day care oncology unit. Presented at: SABCS; 2016 Dec 6-10 ; San Antonio, TX , USA. Abstract #P4-21-15.
Contact:
Al Kildani
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
858-704-8122
ir@halozyme.com
View original content to download multimedia: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/halozyme-announces-roche-receives-european-commission-approval-for-phesgo-fixed-dose-combination-of-perjeta-and-herceptin-for-subcutaneous-injection-utilizing-halozymes-enhanze-technology-for-the-treatment-of-patients-with--301197980.html
SOURCE Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.