AstraZeneca has announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for ZurampicTM (lesinurad) 200mg in combination with a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI) for the adjunctive treatment of hyperuricemia in adult gout patients (with or without tophi) who have not achieved target serum uric acid (sUA) levels with an adequate dose of an XOI alone.
Zurampic is a selective uric acid reabsorption inhibitor (SURI) that inhibits the urate transporter, URAT1, which is responsible for the majority of the renal reabsorption of uric acid. By inhibiting URAT1, Zurampic increases uric acid excretion and thereby lowers sUA.
In combination with the current standard of care, XOIs allopurinol or febuxostat, Zurampic provides a dual mechanism of action to increase excretion and decrease production of uric acid, enabling more patients with inadequately controlled gout to achieve target treatment goals.
Sean Bohen, Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca, said: “There has been limited therapy innovation in gout over the last 50 years. With the approval of Zurampic, we are pleased to offer a new treatment option for the many patients who are suffering from the effects of gout and who are not reaching the recommended serum uric acid treatment targets with the current standard of care.”
As part of the European Union (EU) approval, AstraZeneca will conduct a Non-Interventional Post-Authorisation Safety Study (PASS) to investigate the cardiovascular safety profile (mainly in patients with history of cardiovascular disorder) exposed to Zurampic. In addition to the PASS, we have agreed to conduct an EU renal study to assess efficacy and safety in patients with creatinine clearance of 30-45mL/min.
The EU approval of Zurampic was based on data from three pivotal Phase III studies, CLEAR1, CLEAR2 and CRYSTAL, which represent the largest clinical trial data set of gout patients (n=1,537 total) treated with combination urate lowering therapy.
Gout is a serious and debilitating form of inflammatory arthritis caused by hyperuricemia (elevated sUA). It affects millions of patients, many of whom do not reach recommended sUA treatment goals on the current standard of care (XOIs), which decrease production of uric acid. For those inadequately controlled patients, the addition of a urate lowering therapy to increase excretion of uric acid, may help them achieve treatment goals.
The EC marketing authorisation applies to all member states of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. Today’s announcement follows the approval on 22 December 2015 by the US Food and Drug Administration of Zurampic®(lesinurad) 200mg tablets in combination with an XOI for the treatment of hyperuricemia associated with gout in patients who have not achieved target sUA levels with an XOI alone.
Source: AstraZeneca
