European Commission approves Inrebic to treat myelofibrosis. BMS

Bristol Myers Squibb announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted full Marketing Authorization for Inrebic (fedratinib) for the treatment of disease-related splenomegaly (enlarged spleen) or symptoms in adult patients with primary myelofibrosis, post-polycythaemia vera myelofibrosis or post-essential thrombocythaemia myelofibrosis, who are Janus Associated Kinase (JAK) inhibitor naïve or have been treated with ruxolitinib. Inrebic is the first, once-daily oral therapy to significantly reduce spleen volume and symptom burden for patients with myelofibrosis where treatment with ruxolitinib has failed, who are intolerant to ruxolitinib or who are JAK inhibitor naïve. The centralized Marketing Authorization approves use of Inrebic in all European Union (EU) member states, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.* Inrebic was granted orphan drug designation in the United States and is also approved in the United States and Canada. The EC approval of Inrebic was based on results from the JAKARTA and JAKARTA2 studies, which included patients from 14 countries in the EU. The pivotal JAKARTA study evaluated the efficacy of once-daily oral doses of Inrebic compared with placebo in 289 patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary myelofibrosis with splenomegaly. The JAKARTA2 study evaluated the efficacy of once-daily oral doses of Inrebic in 97 patients with intermediate or high-risk primary or secondary myelofibrosis with splenomegaly previously treated with ruxolitinib. In the clinical development program of Inrebic, which included 608 patients, serious and fatal cases of encephalopathy, including Wernicke’s, occurred in Inrebic-treated patients. Serious cases were reported in 1.3% (8/608) of patients treated with Inrebic in clinical trials and 0.16% (1/608) of cases were fatal.