French biopharmaceutical company Ipsen (EPA: IPN; OTCMKTS: IPSEY) has announced that the first prescription of its Somatuline (lanreotide) sustained-release injection has been issued in China for the treatment of gastrointestinal pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs).
Somatuline, the only somatostatin analogue (SSA) for deep subcutaneous self-injection, received approval in China in December 2019 for the treatment of acromegaly. The drug has since benefited from the expansion of China’s official rare disease list in 2023, which includes indications such as acromegaly, GEP-NETs, progressive ossifying fibrodysplasia, congenital biliary atresia, Alagille syndrome, primary biliary cholangitis, and primary insulin-like growth factor-1 deficiency. In March this year, Somatuline was approved in China for unresectable, well-differentiated or moderately differentiated, locally advanced or metastatic GEP-NETs to improve progression-free survival and carcinoid syndrome, potentially reducing the frequency of emergency treatment with short-acting somatostatin analogues.
Neuroendocrine tumors (NENs) are rare tumors that originate from embryonic neuroendocrine cells and can produce peptide hormones. GEP-NETs account for approximately 55% to 70% of all NENs, with an incidence rate of 114 per 100,000 in China and an average diagnostic journey of 4.8 years for patients. Somatostatin analogues (SSA) are the first-line treatment options for unresectable and/or metastatic gastrointestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Somatuline, recommended by the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) and authoritative guidelines in China, has been shown to significantly prolong progression-free survival (PFS) by 38.5 months, reduce the risk of disease recurrence by 53%, and is supported by comprehensive clinical evidence and a high level of evidence-based medicine.- Flcube.com
