The FDA has approved Lumizyme (alglucosidase alfa) for treatment of patients with infantile-onset Pompe disease, including patients who are less than eight years of age. In addition, the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) known as the Lumizyme ACE (Alglucosidase Alfa Control and Education) Program is being eliminated.

Pompe disease is a rare genetic disorder and occurs in an estimated one in every 40,000 to 300,000 births. Its primary symptom is heart and skeletal muscle weakness, progressing to respiratory weakness and death from respiratory failure.

The disease causes gene mutations to prevent the body from making enough of the functional form of an enzyme called acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA). This enzyme is necessary for proper muscle functioning. GAA is used by the heart and muscle cells to convert a form of sugar called glycogen into energy. Without the enzyme action, glycogen builds up in the cells and, ultimately, weakens the heart and muscles. Lumizyme is believed to work by replacing the deficient GAA, thereby reducing the accumulated glycogen in heart and skeletal muscle cells.

Lumizyme, a lysosomal glycogen-specific enzyme, was approved by the FDA in 2010 with a REMS to restrict its use to treatment of patients with late (non-infantile) onset Pompe disease who are eight years of age and older. The REMS was required to mitigate the potential risk of rapid disease progression in the infantile-onset Pompe disease patients and patients with late onset disease less than eight years of age, and to communicate the risks of anaphylaxis, severe allergic reactions and severe skin and systemic immune mediated reactions to prescribers and patients.

At the time of Lumizyme’s approval, there were insufficient data to support the safety and efficacy of Lumizyme in the infantile-onset Pompe population, so Lumizyme was approved for use only in late onset Pompe disease patients who are at least eight years of age. Pompe patients with infantile-onset disease and patients younger than eight years of age continued treatment with Myozyme, which already was approved. Myozyme and Lumizyme, both manufactured by Genzyme, are produced from the same cell line at different production scales.

This approval provides access to Lumizyme for all Pompe disease patients, regardless of their age.

The FDA reviewed newly available information and determined that Lumizyme and Myozyme are chemically and biochemically comparable. Consequently, the safety and effectiveness of Lumizyme and Myozyme are expected to be comparable. In addition, a single-center clinical study of 18 infantile-onset Pompe disease patients, aged 0.2 to 5.8 months at the time of first infusion, provides further support that infantile-onset patients treated with Lumizyme will have a similar improvement in ventilator-free survival as those treated with Myozyme.

Because data were submitted supporting approval of Lumizyme for all Pompe patients, a REMS restricting its use to a specific age group is no longer necessary. While the risk of anaphylaxis, severe allergic reactions and severe cutaneous and immune mediated reactions for Lumizyme still exist, these risks are comparable to Myozyme and are communicated in labeling through the Warnings and Precautions, and a Boxed Warning.

“REMS continue to be vital tools for the agency to employ as we work with companies to address the serious risks associated with drugs and monitor their appropriate and safe use in various health care settings,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The agency remains committed to exercising a flexible and responsible regulatory approach that ensures REMS programs are being effectively and efficiently used and not resulting in an unnecessary burden on health care professionals and patients.”

The most commonly reported side effects for Lumizyme were infusion-related reactions and included severe allergic reactions, hives, diarrhea, vomiting, shortness of breath, itchy skin, skin rash, neck pain, partial hearing loss, flushing, pain in extremities and chest discomfort.
Myozyme and Lumizyme are marketed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme.