The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the Biologics License Application (BLA) for Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ sarilumab
Sarilumab is an investigational, human monoclonal antibody directed against the IL-6 receptor that is intended for the treatment of patients with active, moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
IL-6 is the most abundant cytokine in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with RA and levels correlate with both disease activity and joint destruction.
The BLA for sarilumab contains data from approximately 2,500 adults with active, moderate-to-severe RA who had an inadequate response to previous treatment regimens, including seven studies from the global SARIL-RA Phase three program.
According to Sanofi, the goal of the ongoing global clinical development program is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of subcutaneous sarilumab, either as monotherapy or in combination with conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), including methotrexate (MTX), in reducing the signs and symptoms and inhibiting the radiographic progression of RA.