Af­ter 2 de­lays, Zo­genix nabs FDA ap­proval for epilep­sy drug, sets price at 3X its GW Phar­ma com­peti­tor

Four­teen months af­ter re­fus­ing to file Zo­genix’s first ap­pli­ca­tion, the FDA has ap­proved the Cal­i­for­nia biotech’s lead drug for a rare form of epilep­sy called Dravet syn­drome. It will be brand­ed as Fin­tepla.

The com­pa­ny said Fri­day they will charge on av­er­age $96,000 for the drug — or about 3 times what GW Phar­ma, their main com­peti­tor, charges for their Dravet syn­drome drug.

In­vestors have been an­tic­i­pat­ing a com­pe­ti­tion be­tween Zo­genix and GW Phar­ma for years. In 2018, GW won a land­mark FDA ap­proval for the first cannabi­noid drug. Called Epid­i­olex, it had been shown in late-stage tri­als to re­duce seizures by around 40% and rep­re­sent­ed the first ap­proved drug for the 15,000 to 20,000 Amer­i­cans with Dravet syn­drome, each of whom can ex­pe­ri­ence dozens of seizure per month.

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