Shire Submits European MAA For Velaglucerase Alfa

Shire has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency for velaglucerase alfa, the company’s enzyme replacement therapy in development, for the treatment of Type 1 Gaucher disease. Reportedly, this is the third marketing application for velaglucerase alfa that has been submitted, with previous submissions in the US and Canada.

The company said that based on a global supply shortage of the currently approved and marketed treatment for patients with Gaucher disease, and positive results from all three velaglucerase alfa Phase III trials, CHMP has accepted the company’s request for an accelerated assessment of the velaglucerase alfa MAA. The MAA review is expected to begin in the December cycle. Under accelerated assessment, the review timeline of the MAA is shortened from 210 days to 150 days.

Timothy Cox, professor of medicine at the University of Cambridge, said: “Shire’s partnership with health regulators and physicians to devise and implement expanded access programs for velaglucerase alfa is greatly appreciated by treating physicians and the Gaucher community at large. We welcome the news of the submission of the velaglucerase alfa MAA in Europe.”

In Europe and other countries outside the US, patients continue to receive velaglucerase alfa through pre-approval access programs that were developed in partnership with national and regional authorities and designed specifically to address the continuing supply shortage. In the US, patients continue to be enrolled in an FDA-approved treatment protocol that has been open since September 2009, said the company.