Pfizer has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Arthritis Advisory Committee (AAC) voted 10 to 1 to recommend approval of the proposed dose of tofacitinib for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Pfizer submitted supplemental new drug applications (sNDAs) for Xeljanz 5 mg twice daily (BID) and Xeljanz XR extended release 11 mg once daily (QD) for this pending indication. The role of the Advisory Committee is to provide recommendations to the FDA. The FDA decision on whether to approve tofacitinib for PsA is anticipated by December 2017.
“Today marks an important positive step in our journey to potentially bring tofacitinib to adult patients living with active psoriatic arthritis and we are pleased with the Committee’s positive recommendation based on the favorable benefit:risk profile for tofacitinib,” said Michael Corbo, Chief Development Officer, Inflammation & Immunology, Pfizer Global Product Development. “If approved, tofacitinib would be the first Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor for psoriatic arthritis. We look forward to working with the FDA to complete review of the applications.”
The AAC discussions were based on Pfizer’s applications for tofacitinib in PsA, which are currently under review by the FDA. These include data from the tofacitinib Phase 3 trials in PsA, as well as additional safety analyses from the broader tofacitinib clinical development program.