Expert Interview
Examining Amylyx' AMX0035 in ALS before the March 30th FDA ADCOM
Ticker(s): AMLXInstitution: University of Vermont
- Professor Department of Neurological Sciences at the University of Vermont
- Currently manages 85 patients with ALS and and is familiar with literature on AMX0035.
- Areas of interest include clinical management of neuromuscular diseases, novel therapeutic approaches to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), clinical trials and new drug development in neuropathies.
Please describe your clinical practice. Roughly how many patients with ALS do you currently manage?
Added By: sara_adminWhat are your initial thoughts on the clinical trial data and scientific literature to date for AMX0035?
Added By: sara_adminOn a scale from 1-10 (10 being extremely excited), how would you rate your level of excitement for AMX0035?
Added By: sara_adminIf AMX0035 is approved tomorrow, do you expect to begin prescribing AMX0035 to any of your patients?
Added By: sara_adminHow does AMX0035 compare and fit in with the current standard of care or other treatment options?
Added By: sara_adminThe Adcom voting question tomorrow: (Do the data from the single randomized, controlled trial and the open-label
extension study support a conclusion that sodium phenylbutyrate/taurursodiol is effective
in the treatment of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)?)
If you were on the panel, how would you vote?
If you are a NO on the Adcom voting question, how would you answer the followup question which is, "what additional information you would consider necessary to support a conclusion that sodium phenylbutyrate/taurursodiol is effective in the treatment of patients with ALS"
Added By: user1ae2bf5fIn briefing docs, FDA expressed a few of its major concerns on the primary analysis:
1. mITT, excluding the 2 deaths. (appropriateness of "joint rank" vs. shared baseline mixed effects model used by Amylyx for the analysis)
2. Missing data on week 24 from live patients and how to treat this missing data. (MAR method vs. LOCF by Amylyx)
3. Linearity assumption of ALSFRS-R scale.
How much weight do you give each of these concerns in terms of how you view the trial results?
When FDA analysis applied, p values go from stat sig 0.038 to 0.06 and 0.08
Does it change your overall view of the product?
Do you believe as a single trial this is still sufficient for an approval? Or does it make you want to see a larger 2nd trial first?
How do you think the adcom experts will be impacted by these FDA presentations and how do you predict they will they vote?
Added By: user1ae2bf5fSecondary endpoints
Numerical trend going against treatment in pNF-H 32.7 pg/mL
Is that large? Small? Meaningful? Numerical difference in rate of SVC decline IN FAVOR OF TREATMENT, of 5% p= .076
Is it meaningful?
Is ATLIS baseline imbalance contributing to slower rate of decline in treatment group?
FDA also raises the issue of the analysis Ignoring deaths in open label extension study, analyzing the ALSFRS slopes again.
- Is this different from Radicava which got approval on ALSFRS slope? Is the an issue because it is a single trial vs. 2 trials?
FDA raises Unblinding due to GI and bitter taste--- FDA shows gastrointestinal AEs in first 3 weeks, but it's only around 33% vs. 21%. From your experience is this a difference that is likely to unblind a trial? Is this possibly a less pressing issue being raised by FDA? Or is it important?
Added By: user1ae2bf5fAre You Interested In These Questions?
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