Australia Approves Shorter Mavenclad Treatment Regimen for Relapsing-Remitting MS

Australia has approved a shorter treatment regimen of Merck’s Mavenclad for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration authorized 20-day courses of the cladribine tablet form of the medication once a year for two years. The regimen reduces relapse rates and the progression of the disease for up to four years, Merck said. The new approval came after Merck submitted additional clinical trial findings on the therapy.

Health Canada and the European Commission approved Mavenclad earlier this year. Merck continues to seek its regulatory approval in the United States and other countries.

“Mavenclad will be a welcomed treatment option for patients with the relapsing-remitting form of MS,” Bill Carroll, clinical professor of neurology at the University of Western Australia and the Perron Institute, said in a press release.

“As an oral therapy taken in two short courses over a two-year period, Mavenclad will be convenient for all eligible patients in Australia, including those who may not live close to their treating healthcare professional,” added Carrol, a neurology consultant at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as well as president-elect of the World Federation of Neurology.

Mavenclad targets immune cells that trigger relapsing MS. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease, or one in which the immune system attacks healthy cells. Mavenclad inhibits harmful immune T- and B-cells without suppressing the entire immune system.

Australia based its approval of the drug on the findings of a number of clinical trials, including the Phase 3 CLARITY (NCT00213135), CLARITY EXTENSION (NCT00641537) and ORACLE-MS (NCT00725985 studies, the Phase 2 trial ONWARD study (NCT00436826), and the long-term PREMIERE (NCT01013350) studies. The trials involved more than 2,700 RRMS patients, some of whom were followed more than 10 years.

The trials showed that Mavenclad can significantly reduce relapse rates, disability progression and brain atrophy. Doctors recommended the therapy for patients who failed to respond to, or are unable to tolerate, other MS treatments.

“We are pleased the Therapeutic Goods Administration has updated the product Information for Mavenclad in Australia to reflect additional clinical data,” said Simon Sturge, chief operating officer of Merck’s biopharma business. “Our next step is to work closely with the Australian government to bring this treatment advance to patients as quickly as possible.”