July 10 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it has approved a wearable form of Sanofi’s blood cancer drug, Sarclisa, offering multiple myeloma patients a less burdensome alternative to intravenous infusions.
The drug can now be given under the skin through a wearable injector.
The FDA’s approval gives the French drugmaker a regulatory win as new CEO Belén Garijo seeks to strengthen its pipeline and reduce investor concerns about reliance on asthma drug Dupixent, its biggest-selling medicine.
Sanofi, last month, named Paulo Fontoura as its new R&D head.
The new form of the drug, called Sarclisa Escena, is delivered through an on-body injector, a wearable device attached to the skin, and is approved for patients with multiple myeloma — a rare blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow when plasma cells become cancerous and multiply uncontrollably.
Subcutaneous dosing can significantly reduce time spent in infusion centers for patients who receive repeated treatment courses, while also easing the strain on oncology clinics and nurses.
An intravenous form of the drug first won FDA approval in 2020 for previously treated patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Sahal Muhammed)
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