Content about Eisai

Canadian generic drug makers expressed dismay over a new plan to reduce reimbursements for a half-dozen generic medications in most of the country's provinces. According to published reports, a group of premiers had reached a coordinated deal to reduce the prices their governments paid for six generic drugs, hoping to save the provinces nearly $100 million.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has granted special designation to a drug made by Eisai for treating thyroid cancer.

The drug maker said Thursday that its experimental drug E7080 (lenvatinib) had received orphan drug designation from the FDA for follicular, medullary, anapestic and metastatic or locally advanced papillary thyroid cancer.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration is allowing a drug made by Eisai for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease to retain its market exclusivity for six months past the original expiration date, the company said Tuesday.

Eisai said the FDA had granted six more months of exclusivity for the use of Aciphex (rabreprazole sodium) in children, meaning it will lose market exclusivity on Nov. 8, 2013.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for epilepsy, the agency said Monday.

The FDA announced the approval of Eisai's Fycompa (perampanel) tablets to treat partial-onset seizures in patients ages 12 years and older. Partial seizures are the most common type seen in people with epilepsy, according to the FDA.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — Eisai announced that Allen Waxman has joined the company.

Waxman, who has worked at such companies as Kaye Schouler LLP and Pfizer, will serve as SVP and general counsel, where he will be responsible for leading the office of the general counsel and all legal matters for the company in the United States. Waxman also will be a member of the company's executive committee and also will join others in providing leadership for a number of global legal matters for Eisai.

DUBLIN, Calif. — An expert panel at the Food and Drug Administration has given a thumbs-down to a drug made by Astex Pharmaceuticals and Eisai for which the two had sought approval as a treatment for leukemia.

The FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 10-3 with one abstention not to support the risk-benefit profile of Dacogen (decitabine) in certain elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The FDA is not bound by advisory committee votes when deciding whether or not to approve a drug, but usually follows them.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted the first regulatory approval application for a generic version of a cancer drug made by Eisai.

Banner Pharmacaps announced Tuesday that it had filed for regulatory approval of generic bexarotene gelatin capsules in the 75-mg strength, a generic version of Eisai's Targretin, used to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, or CTCL skin cancer. Under the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, once the drug is approved, Banner will be the exclusive supplier of a generic version of Targretin for 180 days.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has asked Eisai to redo its regulatory application for a drug to treat epilepsy, Eisai said Friday.

The drug maker said the FDA issued a refusal to file letter in response to its application for perampanel, designed to treat partial-onset seizures in patients with epilepsy. In the letter, the FDA requested reformatting and reanalyses of some datasets, though Eisai said new studies probably were unnecessary.

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease made by Actavis, the drug maker said Tuesday.

The FDA approved the company’s donepezil hydrochloride tablets in the 5-mg and 10-mg strengths, a generic version of Eisai and Pfizer’s Aricept. Donepezil hydrochloride tablets in the two strengths had sales of about $2.3 billion during the 12-month period ended in March, according to IMS Health.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug made by Eisai to treat a rare form of epilepsy, the drug maker said Friday.

The FDA approved Banzel (rufinamide) oral suspension for the treatment of seizures in children and adults with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The condition, also called LGS, affects 1% to 4% of children with epilepsy.

“This new formulation provides an option for patients who may prefer a liquid or find it difficult to take the medication in tablet form,” Eisai president and CEO Lonnel Coats said.

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a drug made by Eisai for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease, Eisai said Tuesday.

The drug maker announced its receipt of a complete response letter from the agency for its application for rabeprazole sodium extended-release capsules, a proton-pump inhibitor for GERD. The FDA delivers a complete response letter when it has finished reviewing a regulatory approval application, but issues remain that preclude final approval of the drug.

SAN DIEGO Two drug makers conducting a late-stage clinical trial of a drug for treating overweight and obese patients said the drug produced significant weight loss in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai reported results of the one-year “BLOOM-DM” phase-3 trial of the drug lorcaserin, showing that a significant number of patients lost 5% to 10% of their weight by the end of the trial. Patients taking the drug also showed improvements in blood sugar levels, compared with those taking placebo.