Photo by Bill Branson
Vials of drug
The European Medicine’s Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended a change to the terms of the marketing authorization for the recombinant factor VIIa product eptacog alfa (NovoSeven).
The recommendation is to expand the approved use of eptacog alfa in patients with Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia.
Eptacog alfa is already approved by the European Commission (EC) for use in patients with Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia with antibodies to glycoprotein IIb/IIIa and/or human leukocyte antigen who have past or present refractoriness to platelet transfusions.
Now, the CHMP has recommended expanding the use of eptacog alfa to include situations in which patients are not refractory to platelet transfusions but platelets are not readily available.
The CHMP’s recommendations are reviewed by the EC, which has the authority to approve medicines for use in the European Union, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The EC usually makes a decision within 67 days of CHMP recommendations.
If the EC follows the CHMP’s recommendation for eptacog alfa, the product will be approved for the treatment of bleeding episodes and for the prevention of bleeding in those undergoing surgery or invasive procedures in the following patient groups:
- Patients with congenital hemophilia with inhibitors to coagulation factors VIII or IX > 5 Bethesda units
- Patients with congenital hemophilia who are expected to have a high anamnestic response to factor VIII or factor IX administration
- Patients with acquired hemophilia
- Patients with congenital FVII deficiency
- Patients with Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia with antibodies to glycoprotein IIb/IIIa and/or human leukocyte antigen and past or present refractoriness to platelet transfusions, or where platelets are not readily available.