The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ Sobi-partnered Empaveli (pegcetacoplan) to treat two rare kidney diseases.
The targeted C3 therapy has been authorised to reduce excess protein in the urine (proteinuria) in patients aged 12 years and older with C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) or primary immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (IC-MPGN).
C3G and primary IC-MPGN are estimated to affect 5,000 people in the US. Excessive deposits of the C3 protein are a key marker of disease activity in both conditions and can lead to kidney inflammation, damage and failure, with approximately 50% of patients experiencing kidney failure within five to ten years of diagnosis.
Empaveli is designed to regulate excessive activation of the complement cascade, a part of the body’s immune system, and is already approved in the US to treat the rare blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria.
The FDA’s latest decision was supported by positive results from the late-stage VALIANT trial, in which Empaveli reduced proteinuria by 68% compared to placebo.
Empaveli was also associated with stabilisation of kidney function, as measured by estimated glomerular filtration rate, as well as substantial clearance of C3 deposits, assessed by C3 staining.
These benefits were consistent across adolescent and adult patients with C3G and primary IC-MPGN, and in C3G patients with post-transplant disease recurrence.
Apellis’ co-founder and chief executive officer, Cedric Francois, said: “Empaveli has the potential to be truly transformational for patients with C3G and primary IC-MPGN, who until now have had very few treatment options.
“In the largest pivotal study of these diseases, Empaveli demonstrated its potential to preserve kidney function by controlling all three key markers of disease.”
Apellis has exclusive commercialisation rights for systemic pegcetacoplan in the US, while Sobi holds these everywhere else. Apellis also has global commercial rights for ophthalmological pegcetacoplan, including for geographic atrophy.
Commenting on the latest approval of the drug, lead principal investigator for the VALIANT study, Carla Nester, said: “With standard of care, patients living with these rare and severe diseases frequently progress to kidney failure, necessitating lifelong dialysis and/or a kidney transplant.
“Given the urgent need, particularly in children, the approval of Empaveli marks a pivotal moment in the treatment of rare kidney diseases.”