Eisai debuts Halaven in China

Japanese pharma major Eisai (TYO: 4523) saw its shares gain 1.6% to 8,267 yen today as it announced the launch of in-house developed anticancer agent Halaven (eribulin mesylate) in China.

Halaven is a halichondrin class microtubule dynamics inhibitor with a distinct binding profile. In addition to its mechanism of action of inhibiting the growth of microtubule dynamics, non-clinical studies showed Halaven’s unique actions on the tumor microenvironment such as increasing vascular perfusion and permeability in tumor cores, promotion of the epithelial state and decrease in the capacity of breast cancer cells to migrate.

For use in the treatment of breast cancer, Halaven is currently approved in over 70 countries worldwide, including the USA, Japan and countries in Europe and Asia. The most common adverse events (incidence 25% and higher) in the Halaven arm of this study were asthenia (fatigue), neutropenia, alopecia, peripheral neuropathy, nausea and constipation.