Astellas Pharma announces 100mg vial antifungal

Astella Pharma has announced that it is to make its antifungal product micafungin sodium (micafungin) available in 100mg vials for injection.

Micafungin was approved in 2005 in the US to treat patients suffering from oesophageal candidiasis and to prevent the contraction of Candida infections in patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplants.

The compound is an echinocandins antifungal agent, which operates by inhibiting an enzyme that is necessary for the synthesis of cell-walls by fungal infection. Micafungin is fungicidal for Candida.
The company notes that prior to this launch, the product was available solely in 50mg vials, while it hopes this new packaging will enhance the convenience of use of the compound and reduce the amount of waste for hospitals.

Richard White, vice president of critical care at Astellas Pharma US, said: “Astellas is committed to providing physicians with clinical options to make appropriate treatment decisions for their patients.”

He added that a new option will be given to doctors through making available the 100mg vials of micafungin.

In April 2006, Astellas Pharma announced that its subsidiary in the EU submitted an application with the European Medicines Agency for marketing authorisation of micafungin in Europe.