TaiMed Biologics Inc (中裕新藥) plans to apply within a month to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permission to license its Trogarzo “by intravenous push” treatment, as the company’s phase 3 clinical trial showed promising results, it said in a filing with the Taipei Exchange on Sunday.
On March 1, 2019, the HIV/AIDS drug developer began its last stage of human testing in the US to observe whether Trogarzo by intravenous push could produce the same effect as its Trogarzo “by intravenous infusion” treatment, which has already been launched.
Trogarzo by intravenous infusion needs to be diluted with saline solution and administration of the medication takes 15 minutes, while Trogarzo by intravenous push can be given to patients undiluted and takes only 30 seconds to administer, the company said.
Twenty-two people who were infected with HIV-1, but were in a stable condition and had already taken Trogarzo by intravenous infusion for at least three months, participated in the phase 3 trial, TaiMed said in the filing.
Participants initially took Trogarzo by intravenous infusion once every two weeks, but later took Trogarzo by intravenous push, also once every two weeks, the company said.
They did not report any severe adverse reactions, but some had mild or medium adverse reactions, it said.
The concentration of Trogarzo declined at similar rates in participants treated using the intravenous infusion and intravenous push methods, indicating that the different administration routes did not affect the rate of the drugs’ absorption, TaiMed said.
The different methods of administration did not lead to a change in participants’ viral loads, and no one reported viral loads of more than than 1,000 copies per milliliter twice consecutively, it said.
Meanwhile, no participants developed anti-Trogarzo antibodies, TaiMed said.
“Overall, the test results have reached our objectives. We will apply for a biologics license,” TaiMed said. “It is expected that we will obtain approval within a few months.”
TaiMed paid about US$2 million for the phase 3 clinical trail, which was carried out by a contract research organization, it said, adding that the payment excluded drug expenses and research costs.
The company said it expects to receive a milestone payment of US$3 million from its marketing and distribution partner, Theratechnologies Inc, if it gains approval from the FDA.
TaiMed has signed a 12-year contract with Theratechnologies, which would be in charge of sales of Trogarzo by intravenous push in the US, Canada, most European countries and Israel.
It has signed another contract with Meroven Ltd, which would market the medication in the Middle East and North Africa.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
Memory chip stocks extended their losses yesterday after Alphabet Inc’s Google publicized research that could allow more efficient use of the storage needed for artificial intelligence (AI) development. SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, South Korean leaders in the market, fell more than 6 percent and about 5 percent respectively in Seoul. In the US, Micron Technology Inc, Western Digital Corp and Sandisk Corp slid more than 2 percent in pre-market trading, after they all closed lower on Wednesday. Memory companies have been on a tear in recent months as the rapid development of AI infrastructure triggered a spike in chip