Kyowa Kirin makes Poteligeo available in Europe for mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome

Having risen a percentage point rise in earlier trading, Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Kirin’s (TYO: 4151) shares closed down almost 2% at 2,725 yen today, despite announcing the roll-out of its rare blood cancer diseases drug Poteligeo (mogamulizumab) in Europe.

Specifically, the company said that that Poteligeo was now commercially available in Germany for the treatment of adult patients with the rare cancers, mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS), who have received at least one prior systemic therapy. Poteligeo is a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4), a protein consistently expressed on cancerous cells seen in both MF and SS; once Poteligeo binds to CCR4, it increases attraction of immune cells from the immune system to destroy the cancerous cells.

Limited adequate treatments currently available