STAMFORD, Conn, and ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, March 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cara Therapeutics (Nasdaq:CARA) and Vifor Pharma today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted Priority Review for the New Drug Application (NDA) for KORSUVA™ (difelikefalin) solution for injection for the treatment of moderate-to-severe pruritus in hemodialysis patients. The PDUFA target action date for KORSUVA is August 23, 2021. The FDA stated that currently it is not planning to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss the application.
The FDA grants Priority Review to drug applications for potential therapies that, if approved, would be significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of serious conditions when compared to standard applications. The NDA filing is supported by positive data from two pivotal Phase 3 trials – KALM-1, conducted in the U.S. (New England Journal of Medicine 2020; 382:222-232), and the global KALM-2, as well as supportive data from an additional 32 clinical studies.
“The FDA acceptance for filing and granting of Priority Review for the KORSUVA NDA marks a significant milestone for Cara and for the substantial number of hemodialysis patients with chronic intractable pruritus,” said Derek Chalmers, Ph.D., D.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cara Therapeutics. “The FDA’s agreement to expedite the timeline through Priority Review designation aligns with our understanding of the therapeutic potential of KORSUVA to fundamentally change the treatment paradigm for this serious unmet need. We look forward to working with the FDA through the review process and, along with our commercial partner, Vifor Pharma, remain focused on preparing for the U.S. launch of KORSUVA injection, if approved.”
Author: Canan Schuman, PharmD/PhD
Canan Schumann is Chief Editor for Axxiem and for Axxiem's blog "BiotechOntheWeb". When not writing for Axxiem, Canan works as a Clinical Research Scientist II at the Research and Development Department at Molecular Testing Labs, developing endpoint assays for the detection of infectious disease and cancer. Canan currently resides in Portland, Oregon, where he received his Honors Bachelor of Science (HBS), Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD.), and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biopharmaceutics at Oregon State University.