Re: Farmas USA
For Zohydro, the FDA determined that additional large-scale efficacy or safety type trials were not required for approval. Zohydro was required to prove that the drug release profile was unchanged by the addition of the third bead. This required a much smaller set of data from Zogenix to verify that the efficacy and pharmacokinetic profile of the old formulation was met by the new formulation. These were bench type/size studies, which did not take long to complete, but were needed to ensure the original drug profile remained the same.
Zohydro also has ongoing Human Abuse Liability studies, which are required in order to be categorized by the FDA as abuse-deterrent. Since Zohydro can still be dose-dumped orally by crushing the capsule, it will be interesting to see what happens. Zogenix also has an agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TEVA) for the right to reference carcinogenicity data for its pending NDA for extended-release hydrocodone.