- Vanza triple granted priority review with Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of January 2, 2025 –
- EU Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) submission also validated by European Medicines Agency (EMA)
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) for investigational once-daily vanzacaftor/tezacaftor/deutivacaftor triple combination therapy (vanza triple) for people living with cystic fibrosis (CF) ages 6 years and older who have at least one F508del mutation or another responsive mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene responsive to the vanza triple. Vertex used a priority review voucher for this submission reducing the review time from 10 months to 6 months, resulting in a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of January 2, 2025.
“The FDA acceptance of our vanza triple application and the MAA validation by the EMA represent important milestones in the decades-long development of CFTR modulators and another example of our track record of serial innovation in CF,” said Nia Tatsis, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer at Vertex. “Vanzacaftor raises the high bar set by TRIKAFTA® and gives more people with CF the chance to get to levels of sweat chloride below the diagnostic threshold for CF, and even to levels of sweat chloride seen in those without CF.”
Vertex also received validation of its Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) submission by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the EU for patients ages 6 years and older. The company has also submitted in Canada, Australia, Switzerland and the U.K.
About Cystic Fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare, life-shortening genetic disease affecting more than 92,000 people globally. CF is a progressive, multi-organ disease that affects the lungs, liver, pancreas, GI tract, sinuses, sweat glands and reproductive tract. CF is caused by a defective and/or missing CFTR protein resulting from certain mutations in the CFTR gene. Children must inherit two defective CFTR genes — one from each parent — to have CF, and these mutations can be identified by a genetic test. While there are many different types of CFTR mutations that can cause the disease, the vast majority of people with CF have at least one F508del mutation. CFTR mutations lead to CF by causing CFTR protein to be defective or by leading to a shortage or absence of CFTR protein at the cell surface. The defective function and/or absence of CFTR protein results in poor flow of salt and water into and out of the cells in a number of organs. In the lungs, this leads to the buildup of abnormally thick, sticky mucus, chronic lung infections and progressive lung damage that eventually leads to death for many patients. The median age of death is in the 30s, but with treatment, projected survival is improving.
Today Vertex CF medicines are treating over 65,000 people with CF across 60 countries on six continents. This represents 2/3 of the diagnosed people with CF eligible for CFTR modulator therapy.
Diagnosis of CF is often made by genetic testing and is confirmed by testing sweat chloride (SwCl), which measures CFTR protein dysfunction. The diagnostic threshold for CF is SwCl ≥60 mmol/L, while levels between 30-59 indicate CF is possible and more testing may be needed to make the diagnosis of CF. A SwCl level of