Oncopeptides (STO:ONCO) announced today that it launched its Pepaxto drug for treating relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
Boston-based Oncopeptides’ Pepaxto (melphalan flufenamide), which received accelerated FDA approval on Feb. 26, is now commercially available and the first patients are being treated with the drug, according to a news release.
Pepaxto received approval in combination with dexamethasone for treating adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior lines of therapy and whose disease is refractory to at least one proteasome inhibitor, one immunomodulatory agent and one CD38-directed monoclonal antibody.
Oncopeptides touts the drug as the first anticancer peptide-drug conjugate approved for multiple myeloma. Pepaxto links a peptide carrier to a cytotoxic agent, resulting in a lipophilic compound that helps to deliver the therapeutic into cells to leverage aminopeptidases that are overexpressed in multiple myeloma cells and cause the release of the cytotoxic agents. It is administered once a month in a 30-minute infusion process.
“Our team has been working diligently to make Pepaxto available as quickly as possible and now Pepaxto is ready to ship to academic and regional hospitals as well as community practices,” Oncopeptides U.S. business unit GM Mohamed Ladha said in the release. “Now that drug is available, we are laser-focused on making sure that patients who may benefit from Pepaxto can access treatment. We are proud to offer robust patient assistance programs including financial assistance, insurance navigation assistance, as well as patient support resources.”
