PHARMACY MARKET
Business Wire | September 26, 2023
Tris Pharma, Inc. (Tris), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on ADHD, pain, addiction and neurological disorders, today announced that Health Canada has authorized the use of Quillivant® ER (extended release) for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children ages 6 to 12. Quillivant ER will be available as both an oral suspension and chewable tablet (known in the United States as Quillivant XR® and QuilliChew ER®, respectively). Quillivant ER is the first once-daily, long-acting, chewable and oral suspension formulations of methylphenidate to be approved for the treatment of ADHD in Canada.
“Children with ADHD around the world need medications that provide fast-acting and long-lasting relief in a range of formulations that are easy for them to take. Since the launch of our Quillivant XR product in the United States, we have been approached by potential partners to make our portfolio of ADHD products available around the world,” said Ketan Mehta, founder and chief executive officer at Tris Pharma. “We are truly delighted by this milestone, which will make this important medication available to millions of patients in Canada.”
Ontario-based KYE Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will make Quillivant ER Oral Suspension and Quillivant ER Chewable Tablets available to patients in Canada beginning in Q1 2024. Tris will manufacture Quillivant ER in the United States and export to KYE Pharmaceuticals for Canadian patients.
ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders diagnosed among children. Many therapies approved to treat ADHD have well-established and significant drawbacks, including early symptom rebound, limited duration of release and efficacy, delayed onset, inability to customize or control titration, and patient difficulty taking the medications (e.g., children unable to swallow a tablet).
In Canada, Quillivant ER is authorized for administration to children aged 6 to 12 diagnosed with ADHD as a once-daily liquid suspension or as a chewable tablet to overcome the difficulty of swallowing pills while still achieving the duration needed to control ADHD symptoms for the desired timeframe. Quillivant ER has demonstrated onset of action as soon as 45 minutes through 12 hours post-dose, providing consistent, continuous delivery throughout the day. Quillivant ER Oral Suspension allows for personalized dosing with ease of titration and the Quillivant ER chewable tablets are scored tablets, which are ideal for pediatric patients, providing additional flexibility in dose administration with the most dosing options available in an extended-release methylphenidate tablet. Tris developed both formulations using the company’s proprietary LiquiXR® technology.
“Quillivant ER has the potential to address a significant unmet market need in the treatment of ADHD by overcoming drawbacks associated with many other ADHD medications, particularly among children,” said John McKendry, president at KYE Pharmaceuticals. “Our strategic partnership with Tris allows us to apply our extensive regulatory and commercial expertise to ensure this unique ADHD medication is made available to patients in Canada.”
About Tris Pharma
Tris Pharma is a privately held, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company that is applying its drug development capabilities and proprietary technologies to transform the treatment of ADHD, pain and neurological disorders, including addiction and diseases of the central nervous system. Tris is an established commercial organization with a robust portfolio of best-in-class ADHD products and a promising pipeline of differentiated, near-term drug candidates. More information is available at www.trispharma.com and on LinkedIn @TrisPharma.
About KYE Pharmaceuticals
Kye Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a private company headquartered in Mississauga, Canada focused on bringing medications to the Canadian market which fulfill clinically significant and unmet needs. KYE has licensed many innovative products and was founded on an entrepreneurial spirit that optimizes our team’s strengths and brings unique value to our partners, Canadian healthcare professionals, and most importantly, patients across Canada.
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PHARMA TECH
Business Wire | September 14, 2023
GoodRx a leading resource for healthcare savings and information, and MedImpact, the independent pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) and health solutions company, announced a new savings solution designed to integrate GoodRx’s prescription pricing in a seamless experience at the pharmacy counter. Now, when an eligible MedImpact member fills a prescription for a generic medication, it will automatically compare their benefit and the GoodRx price and then deliver the lowest one. The amount paid will be applied to the member’s deductible.
“This solution allows us to meet Americans where they are by providing them with low prices on their prescriptions without the need for them to compare costs on their own,” said Cynthia Meiners, Strategic Program Development Officer at GoodRx. “We are bringing together the best of what GoodRx does with the best of what MedImpact does to make it incredibly convenient for MedImpact’s members to start and stay on their prescribed treatments, and to fully integrate their clinical data. We truly feel the future of healthcare lies in these types of integrations.”
The collaboration achieved by integrating GoodRx’s price comparison technology with MedImpact’s advanced technology platform allows both companies to deliver more savings without any additional work on the part of the consumer. In addition, members will benefit from the seamless data integration this program provides. Through MedImpact’s rigorous drug safety review, which includes thousands of health and safety checks, patients will be alerted about any negative drug interactions.
“We are delivering to clients a full portfolio of health, wellness and savings solutions and we see this program as an important part of it,” Marcus Sredzinski, Pharm D, General Manager and MedImpact Senior Vice President. “This delivers hassle-free savings to members, while helping payers capture clinical and adherence data they may have otherwise missed.”
GoodRx is actively working to access new lives by expanding its prescription savings reach by partnering with pharmacy benefit managers and their plan sponsors to collaboratively integrate into the insurance benefit market. Through these programs with CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and MedImpact, GoodRx savings are seamlessly integrated at point-of-sale with three major PBMs that reach over 60% of insured lives.
This new program will become available to eligible MedImpact members starting January 1, 2024.
About GoodRx
GoodRx is a leading resource for healthcare savings and information that makes healthcare affordable and convenient for all Americans. We offer consumers free access to transparent and lower prices for brand and generic medications, affordable and convenient medical provider consultations via telehealth, and comprehensive healthcare research and information. Since 2011, we have helped consumers save over $60 billion and are one of the most downloaded medical apps over the past decade.
GoodRx periodically posts information that may be important to investors on its investor relations website at https://investors.goodrx.com. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult GoodRx’s website regularly for important information, in addition to following GoodRx’s press releases, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and public conference calls and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, GoodRx’s website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.
About MedImpact
For more than 30 years, MedImpact has been building, delivering, and reimagining pharmacy benefit solutions for healthcare payers who face complex and dynamic challenges. As the leading independent PBM, we offer clients the clarity they need to make care and cost decisions; control over a powerful suite of solutions that manage pharmacy spend; and confidence that comes from a proven PBM partner who is fully aligned with their goals and invested in their future.
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PHARMACY MARKET
PR Newswire | October 19, 2023
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. announced positive results of a clinical study demonstrating subcutaneous administration of 10 mL of a representative biologic product co-formulated with its ENHANZE® drug delivery technology, in approximately 30 seconds. In the study, the biologic was delivered with Halozyme's proprietary high-volume auto-injector (HVAI) in healthy volunteers. The injection was delivered successfully to all 23 participants and was well tolerated.
"To our knowledge, this is the first clinical study of its kind," said Mike LaBarre, chief technical officer of Halozyme. "Traditional subcutaneous auto-injector delivery methods are typically limited to volumes less than 2 mL or require long delivery times at slow rates for higher volumes. By enabling rapid subcutaneous injection of high volumes of biologic products, our ENHANZE drug delivery technology in combination with our proprietary HVAI has the potential to improve the patient experience for multiple therapies."
In the study, a representative biologic, immunoglobulin 10%, was delivered to 23 healthy volunteers. The primary endpoint of the study was achieved with all subjects receiving the completed dose with HVAI, demonstrating that 10 mL of a representative biologic product can be rapidly delivered using Halozyme's ENHANZE® and HVAI technologies.
Data Highlights
96% of participants stated that they would be willing to receive the injection again.
90% of participants indicated feeling either no pain or mild pain immediately after injection.
Erythema, swelling, and induration were generally minimal to mild and resolved by 90 minutes or less.
Biologics delivered subcutaneously through auto-injectors are typically restricted to doses of 1-2 mL. This limitation is caused by hyaluronan, a molecule that inhibits fluid dispersion in the subcutaneous space. Halozyme's ENHANZE® drug delivery technology is based on a proprietary recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (rHuPH20), an enzyme that locally degrades hyaluronan in the subcutaneous space. This temporarily increases the permeability of the tissue under the skin, allowing space for the biologic to enter, enabling it to be rapidly dispersed and absorbed into the bloodstream.
"These results support our continued dedication to providing innovative drug delivery options to patients," said Helen Torley, chief executive officer of Halozyme. "Our ENHANZE drug delivery and HVAI technologies have the potential to rapidly deliver large volume therapeutics subcutaneously with the potential for meaningful clinical benefits."
Halozyme's HVAI is available to partners for clinical use.
About Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.
Halozyme is a biopharmaceutical company bringing disruptive solutions to significantly improve patient experiences and outcomes for emerging and established therapies. As the innovators of the ENHANZE® drug delivery technology with the proprietary enzyme rHuPH20, Halozyme's commercially-validated solution is used to facilitate the delivery of injected drugs and fluids in order to reduce the treatment burden to patients. Having touched more than 700,000 patient lives in post-marketing use in seven commercialized products across more than 100 global markets, Halozyme has licensed its ENHANZE® technology to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including Roche, Takeda, Pfizer, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Alexion, argenx, Horizon Therapeutics, ViiV Healthcare and Chugai Pharmaceutical.
Halozyme also develops, manufactures and commercializes, for itself or with partners, drug-device combination products using its advanced auto-injector technology that are designed to provide commercial or functional advantages such as improved convenience and tolerability, and enhanced patient comfort and adherence. The Company has a commercial portfolio of proprietary products including XYOSTED®, TLANDO® and NOCDURNA® and partnered commercial products and ongoing product development programs with several pharmaceutical companies including Teva Pharmaceutical, Pfizer and Idorsia Pharmaceuticals.
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