The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Kesimpta® (ofatumumab), by Novartis, as an injection for subcutaneous use for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, to include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease, in adults. Kesimpta is a targeted, precisely dosed and delivered B-cell therapy that has shown superior efficacy with a similar safety profile compared with teriflunomide and is a first-choice treatment option for RMS patients. Kesimpta is the first B-cell therapy that can be self-administered once monthly at home via the Sensoready autoinjector pen.

Traditionally, B-cell treatments, which bind to and deplete B-cells linked to disease activity in MS, have predominantly been available in hospitals or infusion treatment centers, which can add costs to the healthcare system and present a lifestyle burden for some patients. Kesimpta provides patients the flexibility of self-administering via once-monthly subcutaneous dosing requiring no premedication, eliminating the need to travel to an infusion center. The positive results from the APLIOS study — an open-label Phase II study to determine the bioequivalence of subcutaneous delivery of Kesimpta via a prefilled syringe and a Sensoready pen in patients with RMS — and the ASCLEPIOS studies show Kesimpta to be a highly effective B-cell therapy that can be easily self-administered at home.

Ofatumumab was first approved by the FDA in 2009 for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia as an intravenous infusion with a high dose, administered by a healthcare provider. Ofatumumab was then investigated in an entirely new development program in RMS, as B-cells are known to play a critical role in the development of autoimmune diseases, such as MS. The clinical development program for ofatumumab in RMS took 10 years and has involved more than 2,300 patients around the world as part of rigorous studies that were reflective of the broad patient population. Kesimpta was found to work through a distinct mode of action, and the treatment regimen (dosing) — which was specifically designed for RMS — plays a critical role in the outcome. This is a different dosing regimen and route of administration than was previously approved for the CLL indication.

Ofatumumab was originally developed by Genmab and licensed to GlaxoSmithKline. Novartis obtained rights for ofatumumab from GlaxoSmithKline in all indications, including RMS, in December 2015.