A new wave of potential therapies is set to bring a paradigm shift in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2024. The recent submission of clinical trial data for Sanofi/Regeneron’s Dupixent and Verona’s Ensifentrine to the U.S. FDA indicates the imminent entry of new therapies for COPD.
Both phase 3 pipeline agents, Dupixent and Ensifentrine, have successfully met their trial endpoints and are intended to be used as maintenance or add-on therapies to the standard of care. GlobalData, a data and analytics firm, anticipates that these potential therapies will revolutionize the treatment paradigm for COPD.
According to GlobalData, Dupixent is projected to achieve total sales of $21.4 billion globally by 2029, while Ensifentrine is forecast to generate sales of $1.1 billion by the same year. Asiyah Nawab, a pharma analyst at GlobalData, emphasized the current gap in the COPD market due to the absence of biologics. However, Dupixent, an interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 inhibitor developed by Sanofi/Regeneron, has the potential to address this gap, with promising results from two phase 3 clinical trials.
Nawab highlighted that the trials demonstrated Dupixent’s significant reduction of moderate or severe acute COPD exacerbations by 30% in the BOREAS trial and 34% in the NOTUS trial over 52 weeks. Additionally, Dupixent improved lung function at 12 weeks, which was sustained through 52 weeks, compared to the placebo. These positive outcomes from the clinical trials have led to the FDA’s acceptance of Sanofi/Regeneron’s submission of the clinical trial data.
