Eisai launches Remitoro for PTCL and CTCL in Japan

Japanese pharma major Eisai (TYO: 4523) today announced the launch on its domestic market of Remitoro (denileukin diftitox) to treat relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

Eisai obtained the manufacturing and marketing approval of Remitoro, marketed elsewhere as Ontak, on March 23, 2021. Rights were acquired from Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LGND) in 2006. Remitoro was included in Japan’s National Health Insurance Drug Price List on May 19, 2021.

The agent is a fusion protein consisting of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and partial sequence of diphtheria toxin, and specifically binds to the IL-2 receptor on the surface of tumoral lymphocytes. The antitumor efficacy of denileukin diftitox is believed to depend on the intracellular delivery of diphtheria toxin fragment which inhibits protein synthesis and induce cell death.