US FDA approval tracker: August 2020

The FDA bared its teeth last month, delivering knockbacks for Biomarin, Gilead and Galapagos that took investors by surprise. Biomarin’s market cap lost $7.5bn on the rejection of its haemophilia A gene therapy candidate Roctavian (valrox). There have been questions over the project's durability, and the regulator demanded two years’ data from an ongoing phase III study. The FDA also requested additional data on Gilead and Galapagos' filgotinib, a Jak1 inhibitor. Readout from two studies investigating the drug’s impact on testicular toxicity aren’t due until next year, pushing filgotinib even further behind in a crowded rheumatoid arthritis market. Elsewhere, a panel voted unanimously against adding a mortality benefit to the COPD label for GSK’s Trelegy Ellipta. Despite the setback analysts believe that exacerbation benefits already detailed on the label are sufficient to continue to drive uptake in COPD. The respiratory drug has other tricks up its sleeve – a regulatory decision in asthma is awaited and, while Trelegy’s sales are driven by COPD, an approval here would be an added bonus.