Fedratinib


Fedratinib, used in the form of fedratinib hydrochloride, is an orally available semi-selective inhibitor of Janus kinase 2 developed for the treatment of patients with myeloproliferative diseases including myelofibrosis. Fedratinib acts as a competitive inhibitor of protein kinase JAK-2 with IC50=6 nM; related kinases FLT3 and RET are also sensitive, with IC50=25 nM and IC50=17 nM, respectively. Significantly less activity was observed against other tyrosine kinases including JAK3. In treated cells the inhibitor blocks downstream cellular signalling leading to suppression of proliferation and induction of apoptosis. It was approved by FDA on 16 August 2019.
Myelofibrosis is a myeloid malignancy associated with anemia, splenomegaly, and constitutional symptoms. Patients with myelofibrosis frequently harbor JAK-STAT activating mutations that are sensitive to TG101348. Phase I trial results focused on safety and efficacy of Fedratinib in patients with high- or intermediate-risk primary or post–polycythemia vera/essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis have been published in 2011.

History

Fedratinib was originally discovered at TargeGen. In 2010, Sanofi-Aventis acquired TargeGen and continued development of fedratinib until 2013. In 2016, Impact Biomedicines acquired the rights to fedratinib from Sanofi and continued its development for the treatment of myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera. In January 2018, the drug's rights were transferred to Celgene with their purchase of Impact Biomedicines.
Fedratinib was approved for use in the United States in August 2019.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the application for Fedratinib priority review designation and orphan drug designation. The FDA granted the approval of Inrebic to Impact Biomedicines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation.