KENILWORTH, NJ, USA I August 5, 2016 I Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) for MK-1293, an investigational follow-on biologic1 insulin glargine candidate for the treatment of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which is being developed by Merck with partial funding from Samsung Bioepis.
“The FDA acceptance of our follow-on biologic application is an important milestone, and brings us closer to offering another treatment option for people in the U.S. with diabetes,” said Peter Stein, M.D., vice president, late stage development, diabetes and endocrinology, Merck. “We are proud of the significant contributions we have already made to helping people with type 2 diabetes, and with investigational MK-1293, we hope to expand our portfolio into insulin therapeutics and treatments for people with type 1 diabetes.”
The development program for MK-1293 was designed to meet rigorous regulatory standards for follow-on biologics of clinical and nonclinical safety, efficacy and quality. In addition to Phase 1 studies assessing its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, the NDA submission for MK-1293 includes results of two Phase 3 studies, one conducted in people with type 1 diabetes, and one in people with type 2 diabetes; Lantus® (insulin glargine)2, the originator insulin glargine, was the active comparator in both studies.
The NDA was filed through the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway3, which allows the FDA to reference previous findings of safety and efficacy for an already-approved product (Lantus), in addition to reviewing findings from studies of MK-1293. Separately, the Marketing Authorization Application for MK-1293, which Merck submitted to the European Medicines Agency in December 2015, is currently under review.
About Merck
For 125 years, Merck has been a global health care leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
1 A follow-on biologic is a similar, but not identical, version of an approved reference product. In the U.S., MK-1293 is referred to as a follow-on biologic because of its regulatory pathway. In other countries, MK-1293 is considered to be a biosimilar.
2 LANTUS is a registered trademark of Sanofi-Aventis, which is not affiliated with the maker of MK-1293 and does not endorse MK-1293.
3 In the U.S., follow-on insulins, such as MK-1293, are reviewed under a different regulatory pathway than biosimilars, which follow the 351(k) regulatory pathway.
