FDA clears Dupixent, first-ever biologic for COPD

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved Dupixent (dupilumab) as an add-on maintenance treatment of adults with inadequately controlled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and an eosinophilic phenotype.

Marketed by French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN), Dupixent now becomes the first biologic medicine approved in the USA to treat these patients.

In its many approved indications, Dupixent achieved global sales of $4.3 billion in the second quarter of this year. The FDA nod came just hours after a similar approval for the drug in China.