Dive Brief:
- Eusa Pharma said Wednesday it will acquire global rights to Johnson & Johnson's rare disease drug Sylvant for $115 million, inking a deal with J&J subsidiary Janssen Sciences Ireland.
- Eusa expects the deal, which is pending regulatory approval, to strengthen its rare disease and oncology focus.
- The move follows an announcement by Eusa on July 11 that it would sell its critical care business to Serb Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed price.
Dive Insight:
Sylvant (siltuximab) was approved for idiopathic multicentric Castlemen's disease (MCD) in the U.S. in 2014, based on the positive results of the MCD2001 study.
The randomized, placebo-controlled study enrolled 79 idiopathic MCD patients who received Sylvant plus best supportive care or placebo plus best supportive care. Results showed more than one-third of subjects who received Sylvant had a durable tumor and symptomatic response.
J&J does not break out sales of Sylvant, but a statement from Eusa claimed the drug had seen "rapid revenue growth."
Sylvant was the first treatment for idiopathic MCD, which causes abnormal overgrowth of immune cells and is similar in histology and symptoms to lymphoma.
Because MCD can appear similar to conditions such as lymphoma and autoimmune disorders, patients are often misdiagnosed. Up to 3,600 patients in the U.S. and Europe currently have the disease, according to most recent estimates.
Sylvant is also being studied for renal cell carcinoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, prostate cancer, and type 1 diabetes. The monoclonal antibody is being assessed in early stage research as a possible therapy for high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma and as an immunosuppressive agent to alleviate symptoms of cytokine release syndrome (CRS), a side effect of CAR-T cell therapies.
