BOSTON, Nov. 09, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:KERX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative medicines to people with renal disease, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its application for a second drug product contract manufacturer. Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC of Greenville, North Carolina, a leading global provider of pharmaceutical manufacturing services, is now an FDA approved drug product manufacturer of Auryxia®. With FDA approval of this manufacturer, the company has rebuilt supply and will promptly make Auryxia available to wholesalers.
“We are pleased with today’s approval, as it expands our manufacturing capabilities and capacity,” said Greg Madison, president and chief executive officer of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals. “Getting a second drug product manufacturer approved was an important step to ensuring long-term supply of Auryxia is consistently available to patients.”
Mr. Madison continued, “We are looking forward to attending American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week, the global, premier kidney conference. The timing of this conference next week gives us the opportunity to communicate with health care professionals in attendance that Auryxia supply is restored and is once again available for their patients.”
About Auryxia®
Auryxia (ferric citrate) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on September 5, 2014 and is indicated in the U.S. for the control of serum phosphorus levels in patients with CKD on dialysis. The U.S. approval of Auryxia was based on data from the company's Phase 3 registration program. In the Phase 3 clinical trials, Auryxia effectively reduced serum phosphorus levels to within the KDOQI guidelines range of 3.5 to 5.5 mg/dL.
Auryxia binds with dietary phosphate in the GI tract and precipitates as ferric phosphate. The unbound portion of Auryxia has been shown to increase serum iron parameters including ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT). Iron absorption from Auryxia may lead to excessive elevations in iron stores. Accordingly, physicians should assess and monitor iron parameters before starting and while on Auryxia, and may need to decrease or discontinue IV iron for these patients. The most common adverse events for Auryxia treated patients were gastrointestinal related, including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and constipation. For more information about Auryxia and the U.S. full prescribing information, visit www.Auryxia.com.
IMPORTANT U.S. SAFETY INFORMATION FOR AURYXIA® (ferric citrate)
Contraindication: Patients with iron overload syndrome, e.g. hemochromatosis, should not take Auryxia®.
Iron Overload: Iron absorption from Auryxia may lead to increased iron in storage sites. Iron parameters should be monitored prior to and while on Auryxia. Patients receiving IV iron may require a reduction in dose or discontinuation of IV iron therapy.
Accidental Overdose of Iron: Accidental overdose of iron containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6 years of age. Keep Auryxia away from children as it contains iron. Call a poison control center or your physician in case of an accidental overdose in a child.
Patients with Gastrointestinal Bleeding or Inflammation: Safety has not been established for these patients.
Adverse Events: The most common adverse events with Auryxia were diarrhea (21%), nausea (11%), constipation (8%), vomiting (7%) and cough (6%). Gastrointestinal adverse reactions were the most common reason for discontinuing Auryxia (14%). Auryxia contains iron and may cause dark stools, which is considered normal with oral medications containing iron.
Drug Interactions: Doxycycline should be taken at least 1 hour before Auryxia. Ciprofloxacin should be taken at least 2 hours before or after Auryxia.
For Full Prescribing Information for Auryxia, please visit http://auryxia.com/important-safety-information/
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the statements included in this press release, particularly those regarding the commercialization and ongoing clinical development of Auryxia as well as the expected impact of the supply interruption of Auryxia, may be forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Among the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are the following: our ability to quickly resupply the market with Auryxia following approval of the Patheon facility and our ability to sustain that supply; whether we can increase adoption of Auryxia in patients with CKD on dialysis; whether we can maintain our operating expenses to projected levels while continuing our current clinical, regulatory and commercial activities; the risk that the FDA may not concur with our interpretation of our Phase 3 study results in non-dialysis dependent (NDD) CKD, supportive data, conduct of the studies, or any other part of our regulatory submission and could ultimately deny approval of ferric citrate for the treatment of IDA in adults with stage 3-5 NDD-CKD; the risk that if approved for use in NDD-CKD that we may not be able to successfully market Auryxia for use in this indication; and other risk factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. This press release and prior releases are available at http://www.keryx.com. The information found on our website is not incorporated by reference into this press release and is included for reference purposes only.
About Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, with headquarters in Boston, is focused on bringing innovative medicines to market for people with renal disease. In December 2014, the company launched its first FDA-approved medicine, Auryxia® (ferric citrate) in the United States. In January 2014, ferric citrate was approved for use in Japan, where it is being marketed as Riona® by Keryx's Japanese partner, Japan Tobacco Inc. and Torii Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. In September 2015, the European Commission granted European market authorization for Fexeric® (ferric citrate coordination complex). For more information about Keryx, please visit www.keryx.com.