Logo on the Sanofi exhibition area on the Viva Technology conference on innovation and startups on the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 15, 2022.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
Actions Sanofi AND regeneron each rose greater than 6% on Thursday after pharmaceutical firms released promising data showing that their jointly developed asthma drug Dupixent also shows promise within the treatment of patients with COPD.
Recent data from a phase 3 clinical trial shows that Dupixent reduced the variety of bad attacks of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by 30% over a placebo over 52 weeks. The drug is already approved to treat asthma and a few skin conditions equivalent to eczema, however it could grow to be the primary recent COPD drug in greater than a decade.
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COPD is a life-threatening respiratory disease that causes progressive deterioration of lung function, with symptoms equivalent to persistent cough and shortness of breath that can make it difficult to perform every day activities. It caused 3.2 million deaths worldwide in 2019, making it the third leading reason behind death, based on data World Health ORganisation. Smoking is a key risk factor for COPD, but individuals who quit smoking can also develop the disease.
Patients with COPD were included within the study type 2 inflammation — an allergic response which can result in worsening of lung function. About 300,000 people in the USA alone live with type 2 COPD, based on regeneron.
Over 900 of the study participants were current or former smokers, and those that received Dupixent showed improvements in lung function, quality of life and respiratory symptoms. These results are a win-win for Dupixent as competing COPD drugs from drugmakers equivalent to AstraZeneca and GSK struggle to make successful progress towards approval.
“Change cannot come fast enough for people living with uncontrolled COPD, but unfortunately many experimental treatments haven’t yielded significant clinical results, leaving these vulnerable patients with limited treatment options,” said Dr. Dietmar Berger, Sanofi’s Chief Medical Officer, Sanofi press release. “We’re thrilled to share these unprecedented and potentially paradigm-shifting clinical results which will offer recent hope to patients, caregivers and physicians.”
The businesses said phase two of Dupixent’s third COPD trial is underway, with data expected in 2024.
JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said Dupixent’s recent results exceeded expectations.
“This profit suggests a transparent clinically significant profit for Dupixent and will support the widespread use of this asset on this segment of the COPD market,” Schott wrote in a research note to clients on Thursday. He added that JP Morgan expects recent COPD patients to extend Dupixent sales by $1.5 to $2 billion.
Dupixent pulled in Regeneron sales of $8.7 billion last 12 months, up 40% from 2021.
Cowen analyst Steve Scala took the same approach to the brand new data, noting that COPD represents a serious market opportunity for the drug.
“We expect a solid take-up of Dupixent after approval,” it wrote in a note on Thursday, adding that “we’re very encouraged by the positive COPD data, which could grow to be an amazing opportunity for Dupixent and extend its growth trajectory to 2030+.”