Mycamine is said to be a preferred treatment in hospitals and intensive care units around the world for use as a preventative in patients with haematological and oncology conditions
Sandoz is a division of Novartis. (Credit: Novartis AG)
Sandoz, a Novartis division, has announced the completion of the acquisition of global brand rights for systemic antifungal agent Mycamine (micafungin sodium, Funguard in Japan) from Japan-based Astellas Pharma.
Sandoz considerably strengthens its global hospital offering and top anti-infectives portfolio with this acquisition of the global echinocandin, one of the three main antifungal families.
According to Novartis, over two million patients use Mycamine on a global scale.
It is said to be a preferred treatment in hospitals and intensive care units around the world. It is also a tried-and-true preventative in patients with haematological and oncology conditions, and a common practice in organ transplants.
It is recommended for the treatment of oesophageal and invasive candidiasis as well as the prevention of candida and aspergillus infections in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor said: “This is another sign of our commitment at Sandoz to driving responsible access to critical antimicrobial medicines.
“We are both investing in our production network and selectively building out our leading portfolio in this field to ensure that we can continue to offer patients around the world the right medicine at the right time.”
In a separate development, Novartis has reported fresh long-term data from the ORION-8 trial of Leqvio (inclisiran) in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), increased risk of ASCVD or heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH).
Leqvio is a subcutaneous injection and is said to be the first and only small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).
According to the data, Leqvio’s twice-yearly dosing in addition to statin therapy, provides consistent LDL-C reduction beyond six years in patients.
Additionally, the long-term safety data was like previous findings, confirming the validated and favourable safety profile of the drug.
ORION-8, a Phase 3 open-label extension of ORION-9, ORION-10, ORION-11 and ORION-3 trials, is said to be the largest clinical trial completed to date with Leqvio.