FDA approves Genentech’s Rituxan (rituximab) in children with two rare blood vessel disorders

FDA has approved Genentech’s Rituxan as the first and only FDA-approved treatment for pediatric patients 2 years of age and older living with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis. Genetech noted that this approval is the first pediatric indication for Rituxan. 

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Rituxan^® (rituximab), in combination with glucocorticoids, for the treatment of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) in pediatric patients 2 years of age and older. GPA and MPA are rare, potentially life-threatening diseases affecting small- and medium-sized blood vessels.

“Rituxan is now approved as the first and only medicine for pediatric patients living with GPA and MPA, two potentially life-threatening blood vessel disorders which are rare in children,” said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. “Today’s approval is a result of our ongoing commitment to working with the FDA to develop medicines for pediatric patients with rare diseases where there is a serious unmet need.”

The approval is based on data from the PePRS study, a Phase IIa, global, open-label, multi-center, single-arm study investigating the safety, pharmacokinetics, exploratory efficacy and pharmacodynamic outcomes of intravenous Rituxan in 25 patients with active GPA or MPA between 6 and 17 years of age. Treatment with four weekly infusions of Rituxan or non-U.S.-licensed rituximab in combination with a tapering course of oral glucocorticoids was assessed in newly diagnosed or relapsing active GPA or MPA pediatric patients. Of the 25 patients in the study, 19 had GPA and 6 had MPA at baseline. Efficacy was an exploratory endpoint and primarily assessed using the Pediatric Vasculitis Activity Score (PVAS). Efficacy assessment showed that 56% of patients achieved PVAS remission by month 6, 92% by month 12, and 100% of patients achieved remission by month 18. The safety profile of Rituxan in patients with pediatric GPA and MPA was consistent in type, nature and severity with the known safety profile of Rituxan in adult patients with GPA, MPA, rheumatoid arthritis and pemphigus vulgaris

The FDA previously granted Priority Review to Rituxan for the treatment of GPA and MPA in pediatric patients. In 2011, Rituxan became the first and only therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of adults with these two rare forms of vasculitis. Rituxan is currently indicated for the treatment of four autoimmune conditions and since 2006 more than 900,000 people have been treated with Rituxan for autoimmune conditions worldwide. Rituxan is not indicated in children less than 2 years of age with GPA or MPA, or in children with conditions outside of GPA and MPA.