EMA backs MabThera despite contamination issue
pharmafile | May 29, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â EMA, MabThera, Phil Taylor, Roche, manufacturingÂ
The European Medicines Agency has completed a safety review of Roche’s MabThera convened after bacterial contamination was discovered in bioreactors used to make its active ingredient rituximab.
Five months after the contamination with Leptospira licerasiae was first reported to the EMA, the agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has concluded that there are no risks to public health and that the benefits of MabThera outweigh its risks.
MabThera – sold as Rituxan in the US – is widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and is Roche’s top-selling drug, bringing in 6 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion) in sales last year.
In December 2011, Roche informed the EMA that the L. licerasiae contamination had been detected in some bioreactors at its facility in Vacaville, US, during routine testing in May and August of that year. The organism is potentially hazardous as it can cause a disease in humans called leptospirosis.
The contamination was identified during the early-stage of production of the antibody, and Roche said it had not detected any bacteria in samples taken from later stages of production, or in the finished product. All material from the affected batches was discarded.
According to the CHMP, the bacteria “was most likely introduced into the cell culture media used in the bioreactors, and that personnel acting as external carriers and/or the media preparation process were possibly to blame”.
Roche had introduced corrective and preventive measures at the Vacaville site, “which should minimise any potential contamination and improve the detection of the bacteria”, it added. One such action was the development of a more sensitive test for detecting the bacteria.
“The Committee agreed with the corrective measures put in place at the manufacturing site and recommended that the medicine’s marketing authorisation be maintained,” said the CHMP.
Phil Taylor
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