ORPHELIA Pharma announces the granting of the Marketing Authorisation for Ivozall® from the European Commission
Paris and Lyon, November 26th, 2019 – ORPHELIA Pharma, a French biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and marketing of paediatric drugs in the fields of oncology and neurology, announces today that the European Commission has granted Ivozall® an European Marketing Authorisation (MA).
Ivozall® is a solution for infusion containing 1 mg/ml of clofarabine and is supplied in 20 ml-vials. Clofarabine is an essential medicine for the treatment of relapsed or refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) in children. Ivozall® will be the first generic form of clofarabine to be authorised under the European centralized procedure.
« This approval is a significant milestone for ORPHELIA Pharma as Ivozall® is the first medicine in a series of oncology products we plan to launch. We believe it addresses important pediatric needs and will meaningfully improve children’s care », comments Jeremy Bastid, Chief Development Officer. « We will now focus on launching Ivozall® throughout Europe and building relationships with distribution partners to bring Ivozall® to patients with ALL ».
« This MA will allow the company to strengthen its product portfolio with this first oncology medicine in which we have great expectations » says Hugues Bienaymé, Founder and General Manager. « We anticipate to make Ivozall® available to hospital centres treating ALL patients in some countries from March 2020. Other countries will be handled by ORPHELIA’s distributors, to be selected in the course of 2020 ».
About Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
ALL is a cancer associated with the uncontrolled proliferation of lymphoblasts that invade the bone marrow. The disease progresses rapidly and aggressively and requires immediate treatment. ALL is a rare disease, with around 7,000 people diagnosed each year in Europe. The majority of ALL cases occurs in children. Although rare, ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer. Clofarabine is indicated for the treatment of ALL in paediatric patients who have relapsed or are refractory after receiving at least two prior regimens and where there is no other treatment option anticipated to result in a durable response.
About ORPHELIA Pharma
ORPHELIA Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company based in Paris and Lyon that develops and markets drugs for the treatment of rare and serious paediatric diseases. Our mission is to provide patients with essential hospital products in the fields of epilepsy and oncology with formulations adapted to the paediatric population.
Our first product, Kigabeq®, obtained its MA in September 2018 and is being launched in Europe. ORPHELIA Pharma also conducts research projects through academic and industrial collaborations. The main investors are initiative OCTALFA and Pierre Fabre Medicament.