Positive developments continued for two Westchester-based pharmaceutical companies recently, as Regeneron announced positive study results of a sinus drug and Progenics”™ drug Relistor gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use in a new group of patients.
Greenburgh-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its partner, Paris-based Sanofi, announced that dupilumab, a drug the companies are developing together, met all primary and secondary endpoints in a phase 2 trial for patients with moderate to severe chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps. The drug also is being tested for use against two allergic conditions, atopic dermatitis and asthma.
Regeneron”™s stock, which trades on the Nasdaq, is up 29 percent from the start of 2014.
Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., also based in Greenburgh, announced that its injectable drug Relistor has been approved by the FDA for use in patients with opioid-induced constipation who take opioid painkillers for chronic pain not related to cancer. The drug, which was developed with Raleigh, N.C.-based Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., does not reduce the efficacy of the patients”™ pain medication, according to a company press release.
Approximately 40 percent of chronic pain patients, or nearly 11 million patients, on opioid therapy will experience opioid-induced constipation, the company said. Relistor is the first approved medication that specifically targets the underlying cause of opioid-induced constipation. The drug was first approved for use in 2008.
