AUA Updates Overactive Bladder Guideline

The American Urological Association (AUA) announced that it has updated its guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of non-neurogenic overactive bladder (OAB) in adult patients. As a result of a 2018 systematic review of recently published studies, AUA modified guideline statement 12 to say clinicians may consider combination therapy with an antimuscarinic agent and beta3-andrenoceptor agonist for patients who are refractory to monotherapy with either of those medications. Read more.

Source: Renal & Urology News, April 25, 2019

First Big Test Approaches for Urovant

Investors who backed Urovant’s $140m flotation last September will soon find out whether the money was well spent. Before the end of March the company will release topline pivotal data on the overactive bladder project vibegron, a β3-adrenergic receptor agonist licensed from Merck & Co, and a positive result should allow regulatory filings to follow. It seems likely that the trial will hit: Merck successfully conducted a large phase IIb study of vibegron a few years ago, and a similar compound is already on the market in the shape of Myrbetriq, which has been sold by Astellas since 2011. This well-established product has only four years of US patent life left, so if Urovant has any chance of building vibegron into a similarly large product it needs to prove that its contender is both safer and more effective. Read more.

Source: Evaluate, March 12, 2019

Overactive Bladder Linked to Prostate Cancer ADT

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer is associated with an increased risk of overactive bladder (OAB), a finding consistent with an inhibitory role of androgen in modulating male voiding dysfunction, according to a new study. Compared with ADT recipients, healthy men and men receiving alpha blockers for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) had a significant 98% and 30% decreased risk of OAB, respectively, after adjusting for numerous potential confounding factors. Increased ADT duration increased the cumulative risk of OAB. Read more.

Source: Renal & Urology News, January 7, 2019

Free Interactive Education Program Announced for Those Living With an Overactive Bladder

According to the American Urological Association, approximately 40% of women and 30% of men live with overactive bladder or OAB. Many people with OAB find it difficult to talk to their doctor or loved ones about their condition because of the stigma associated with it. Pro-ficiency, a leading provider of interactive online patient education tools, announces its collaboration with the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning (ACHL) and the Simon Foundation for Continence, in their joint, interactive program, to educate people about how to speak with their healthcare providers and their loved ones to get the care they need. The program also discusses treatment options, how to manage social and lifestyle considerations, and incorporating shared-decision making into visits with health care providers. The program is freely available to all participants. “ACHL & Pro-ficiency previously collaborated on a highly successful OAB educational activity, however, given the depth and breadth of OAB, it was clear that continued education was needed. ACHL is proud to continue the education movement with this most recent program,” adds Amanda Kaczerski, with ACHL. Read more.

Source: Newswire, November 5, 2018

The Journal of Urology Publishes Valencia’s Excellent Feasibility Data on eCoin™ for Overactive Bladder

Last week, The Journal of Urology published the feasibility data of Valencia Technologies’ (“Valencia“) eCoin™ device indicated for treatment of overactive bladder. The manuscript, “Feasibility of a fully-implanted, nickel-sized and shaped tibial nerve stimulator for the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome with urgency urinary incontinence,” details the design of Valencia’s 46 patient study and the study’s excellent clinical results. The manuscript has an embargo date of February 15, 2019. Implanted in a 20-minute office procedure across seven clinical centers in the United States and New Zealand, the coin-sized and shaped tibial nerve stimulator is distinctly simple to implant in stark contrast to a highly invasive and operator dependent therapy called sacral nerve stimulation. An author of the eCoin™ publication, Dr. Vincent Lucente, concludes, “I believe tibial nerve stimulation with eCoin™ will become the therapy of choice for patients after medications are tried. These early results clearly show a better therapy is on the horizon for patients with urinary incontinence.” Read more.

Source: PRNewswire, November 1, 2018

Kyorin Receives Approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for Vibegron for Overactive Bladder

Urovant Sciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for urologic conditions, today announced that Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Kyorin) received marketing approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for vibegron for the treatment of adults with overactive bladder (OAB) in Japan. Kyorin licensed vibegron for Japan from Merck & Co., Inc. in 2014, and later expanded the license to include certain other Asian countries in 2017. Urovant licensed rights to vibegron for the United States and the rest of the world from Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. in 2017 and subsequently entered into a collaboration agreement with Kyorin later that year. Under the collaboration agreement, Urovant and Kyorin share information related to the development of vibegron, including clinical trial and nonclinical study data. Read more.

Source: The News, October 1, 2018

elderly underactive bladder symptoms needed to be reported

Mirabegron Safe, Effective for Overactive Bladder in the Elderly

Mirabegron is a safe and effective treatment for overactive bladder (OAB) in older patients, a researcher reported at the International Continence Society’s 2018 annual meeting. Adrian Wagg, MB, BS, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, presented findings from a 12-week phase 4 prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 888 patients older than 65 years who had OAB symptoms for 3 months or more. The mean age of the patients was about 72 years. The proportion of patients older than 75 years was 28% among mirabegron and placebo recipients. Read more.

Source: Renal and Urology News, August 31, 2018

TARIS Announces Positive Topline Data for TAR-302 in Patients with Idiopathic Overactive Bladder

TARIS, a biopharmaceutical company developing transformational therapies to treat people with debilitating urological disorders, today announced positive preliminary safety and efficacy data from its clinical study of TAR-302 for the treatment of patients with idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB) refractory to oral therapy. Subjects in the Phase 1b study received a single TAR-302 system, which provides continuous local dosing of the approved antimuscarinic agent trospium into the bladder. Subjects who were experiencing an average of more than five daily urge incontinence episodes demonstrated a reduction in mean daily episodes of 75% following dosing for 42 days (p=0.0049). Based on the unmet need in this disease state and the efficacy demonstrated in this study on established endpoints, TARIS plans to rapidly advance this program into later stage trials. “The results of this study suggest TAR-302 may come to represent an innovative new approach to treating overactive bladder,” said Michael J. Kennelly, M.D., FACS, Professor of Urology at Carolinas Medical Center, Medical Director of the Charlotte Continence Center and Women’s Center of Pelvic Heath, and Principal Investigator of the TAR-302 clinical studies. “There is a substantial need for alternative options in the management of OAB when patients fail oral therapies. The compelling efficacy observed to date with TAR-302, in the absence of side-effects, represents a potentially significant advance in the development of improved therapies for these patients.” Read more.

Source: PRNewswire, August 28, 2018

Certain Common Medications Tied to 30% Higher Dementia Risk, Study Finds

Many older adults know that long-term use of certain medications can negatively affect cognition and increase one’s risk of dementia. But a new study suggests that some classes of anticholinergic drugs — particularly those used to treat depression, Parkinson’s and urinary incontinence — carry a higher risk than others. Anticholinergic drugs function by blocking the effects of acetylcholine, a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other nerves and muscles. They are prescribed to 20% to 50% of older adults in the United States to treat a variety of neurological, psychiatric, gastrointestinal, respiratory and muscular conditions, according to a 2009 study. In the UK, 34% to 48% of older adults take them, another study found. Read more.

Source: CNN, April 25, 2018

Urovant Starts Pursuit of Astellas’ Overactive Bladder Drug Myrbetriq with New Phase 3 Trial

A little later than expected, Roivant group company Urovant has started its confirmatory phase 3 program for overactive bladder (OAB) drug vibegron, originally licensed from Merck & Co. The pivotal trial—which was originally expected to get underway last year—will involve around 1,400 adults with symptoms of OAB such as urge urinary incontinence, urgency, and urinary frequency, according to Urovant. The drug already has positive phase 2b and phase 3 data in hand, so if the latest trial is positive Urovant should be able to move ahead with regulatory filings. If approved, it could become a direct competitor to Astellas’ Myrbetriq (mirabegron), the first beta3-adrenergic agonist to reach the market for OAB. And that could present a big commercial opportunity: Astellas reported sales of its drug rose 30% to 93.1 billion yen ($876 million) in the nine months to end-January 2018 with take-up driven by greater tolerability than the widely used antimuscarinic OAB drug class. Read more.

Source: Fierce Biotech, March 28, 2018