Completed study strengthens clinical development program

Vienna, 02.06.2023. With the publication of the final results from the LOW-PV study in the NEJM Evidence conducted by Fondazione per la Ricerca dell'Ospedale di Bergamo (FROM) under the leadership of Professor Tiziano Barbui, AOP Health announces an important advancement reinforcing its clinical development program for ropeginterferon alpha-2b (BESREMi®) in polycythaemia vera (PV), a rare blood cancer. The academic LOW-PV study supported and funded by AOP Health and public organizations in Italy complements a series of trials performed by AOP Health over more than 10 years to achieve marketing authorization in Europe and the Middle East. With these clinical studies, including PEGINVERA, PROUD-PV, and CONTINUATION-PV, AOP Health opened a new area of treatment options for patients suffering from PV. A further study (PEN-PV) was performed to develop a pen for self-injection allowing ease of self-administration, exact dosing and minimal waste of the medical product. AOP Health’s comprehensive development program in PV is considered by many key opinion leaders as the most significant development in the field of PV treatment in the past 30 years.

This series of studies has enabled marketing authorizations to be obtained in numerous countries in addition to the AOP Health territories EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Israel and allows patients to have access to BESREMi® in countries including Taiwan, Korea, the US, and Japan. Further studies are ongoing to substantiate the long-term safety and efficacy of BESREMi®. A post-approval safety study (BESREMI-PASS) with a recruitment period of about three years has just completed patient recruitment.

About BESREMi® 

BESREMi® is the first and currently only interferon approved for polycythaemia vera, a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), indicated in the European Union as monotherapy in adults for treatment of polycythaemia vera without symptomatic enlarged spleen. Its overall safety and efficacy were demonstrated in multiple clinical studies.

BESREMi® (ropeginterferon alfa-2b) is a long-acting, mono-pegylated proline interferon (ATC L03AB15). It is administered with a pen (250 and 500 ug) for self-injection once every 2 weeks initially, or up to every 4 weeks after stabilization of blood values. BESREMi® is designed to be self-administered subcutaneously with a pre-filled pen.

For the EMA Summary of Product Characteristics please visit: BESREMi® 

The drug substance Ropeginterferon alfa-2b was discovered by PharmaEssentia, a long-term partner of AOP Health. In 2009, AOP Health in-licensed the exclusive rights for clinical development and commercialization of ropeginterferon alfa-2b in Polycythaemia Vera and other MPNs such as chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) for European, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Middle Eastern markets.

About AOP Health

The AOP Health Group incorporates several companies including AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals GmbH with its seat in Vienna, Austria (“AOP Health”). The AOP Health Group is the European pioneer for integrated therapies for rare diseases and in critical care. Over the past 25 years, the Group has become an established provider of integrated therapy solutions operating from its headquarters in Vienna, its subsidiaries and representative offices throughout Europe and the Middle East, as well as through partners worldwide. The claim “Needs. Science. Trust.” sums up the foundation of the Group’s success: establishing trust through a continually high level of investment in research and development and a highly consistent and pragmatic orientation towards the needs of all stakeholders – especially the patients and their families as well as the healthcare professionals treating them.

Press Contact.

Mag. Nina Roth, MAS

Head of Corporate Communications
nina.roth[at]aop-health.com