Vanda Acquires U.S. and Canadian Rights to PONVORY® Approved for Relapsing MS

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Vanda) (Nasdaq: VNDA) today announced that it has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to PONVORY® (ponesimod) from Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Janssen), a Johnson & Johnson Company. PONVORY® is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada to treat adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS), to include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease and active secondary progressive disease. PONVORY® has a proven safety profile with over 10 years of data.

"The acquisition of Ponvory is a significant milestone for Vanda, as it expands our commercial portfolio and gives us access to a versatile immune response modifier that can potentially have broad application in treating a number of autoimmune-based disorders," said Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, M.D., Vanda's President, CEO and Chairman of the Board.

In a clinical study, PONVORY® was shown to be superior to Aubagio®, another approved drug for multiple sclerosis (MS), in the annual rate of relapse and it was also associated with fewer T2 and T1 MRI lesions versus the comparator. Approximately 9 out of 10 people taking PONVORY® did not experience disability progression over 2 years (as measured by the time to 3-month Confirmed Disability Progression).1

The effect of PONVORY® on the decrease of circulating lymphocytes is reversible so lymphocytes quickly return to baseline levels after discontinuation of PONVORY®. This rapid reversible effect is important for people needing to pause therapy for a vaccine. For women of childbearing age who want to become pregnant, PONVORY® is eliminated from the body in about 7 days after stopping treatment.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vanda-pharmaceuticals-acquires-us-and-canadian-rights-to-ponvory-ponesimod-a-selective-s1p1r-modulator-approved-for-patients-with-relapsing-multiple-sclerosis-302008402.html