The FINANCIAL — Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited and UCB Biopharma SPRL (“UCB”) on July 4 announced the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has granted approval for lacosamide (brand name VIMPAT) as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalization in adult patients with epilepsy who have not obtained sufficient response to other antiepileptic drugs.
“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to improving the lives of people living with epilepsy around the world and to increasing patient access to our core medicines”, explained Jean-Christophe Tellier, CEO, UCB. “This is an example of our collaborative, patient-led and science-driven approach delivering benefits by providing additional treatment options for people living with epilepsy. We look forward to successfully launching lacosamide in Japan and continuing our partnership with Daiichi Sankyo.”
“Daiichi Sankyo is very excited to work with long-time valued partner, UCB, to further contribute to the management of epilepsy in Japan by adding lacosamide as a new therapeutic option to our existing Central Nervous System (CNS) portfolio”, explained Joji Nakayama, Representative Director, President and CEO, Daiichi Sankyo. “Lacosamide’s well-established efficacy and tolerability profile will provide doctors in Japan and their patients with an additional treatment option to help manage their condition. We very much look forward to realizing this opportunity.”
DaiichiSankyo and UCB will partner to commercialize lacosamide in Japan, as agreed previously by both companies in 2014. UCB will manufacture and supply the product; Daiichi Sankyo will manage distribution and book sales in Japan, with both companies promoting lacosamide in Japan, according to Daiichi Sankyo.
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