Current enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant human (rh)GAA has demonstrated efficacy in subjects with late-onset Pompe disease. However, long-term effects of rhGAA on pulmonary function have not been observed, likely related to inefficient delivery of rhGAA to skeletal muscle lysosomes and associated deficits in the central nervous system. To address this limitation, reveglucosidase alfa, a novel insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2)-tagged GAA analogue with improved lysosomal uptake, was developed. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics, safety, and exploratory efficacy of reveglucosidase alfa in 22 subjects with late-onset Pompe disease who were previously untreated with rhGAA. Reveglucosidase alfa plasma concentrations increased linearly with dose, and the elimination half-life was <1.2 h. The most common adverse events were hypoglycemia (63%), dizziness, fall, headache, and nausea (55% for each). Serious adverse events included hypersensitivity (n = 1), symptomatic hypoglycemia (n = 2), presyncope (n = 1), and acute cardiac failure (n = 1). In the dose-escalation study, all treated subjects tested positive for anti-reveglucosidase alfa, anti-rhGAA, anti-IGF1, and anti-IGF2 antibodies at least once. Subjects receiving 20 mg/kg of reveglucosidase alfa demonstrated increases in predicted maximum inspiratory pressure (13.9%), predicted maximum expiratory pressure (8.0%), forced vital capacity (-0.4%), maximum voluntary ventilation (7.4 L/min), and mean absolute walking distance (22.3 m on the 6-min walk test) at 72 weeks. The authors concluded that reveglucosidase alfa may provide a new treatment option for patients with late-onset Pompe disease.
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