History
Asfotase alfa was granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2008.Asfotase alfa is manufactured by Alexion Pharmaceuticals and it was granted breakthrough therapy designation by the U.S. FDA in 2015 as it is the first and only treatment for perinatal, infantile and juvenile-onset HPP. It was approved in October 2015, in the U.S. and in August 2015, in the EU.The safety and efficacy of asfotase alfa were established in 99 participants with perinatal (disease occurs in utero and is evident at birth), infantile- or juvenile-onset HPP who received treatment for up to 6.5 years during four prospective, open-label studies. Study results showed that participants with perinatal- and infantile-onset HPP treated with asfotase alfa had improved overall survival and survival without the need for a ventilator (ventilator-free survival). Ninety-seven percent of treated participants were alive at one year of age compared to 42 percent of control participants selected from a natural history study group. Similarly, the ventilator-free survival rate at one year of age was 85 percent for treated participants compared to less than 50 percent for the natural history control participants.Participants with juvenile-onset HPP treated with asfotase alfa showed improvements in growth and bone health compared to control participants selected from a natural history database. All treated participants had improvement in low weight or short stature or maintained normal height and weight.
Pharmacology
Mechanism of action
Hypophosphatasia is caused by a genetic defect of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP), an enzyme that plays a role in bone mineralization. Asfotase alfa is a recombinant glycoprotein that contains the catalytic domain (the active site) of TNSALP. It is thus a form of enzyme replacement therapy. Pharmacokinetics
After subcutaneous injection, asfotase alfa has a bioavailability of 46–98% and reaches highest blood plasma concentrations after 24 to 48 hours. Elimination half life is five days. Chemistry
The peptide part of the glycoprotein asfotase alfa consists of two identical chains of 726 amino acids each, containing (1) the catalytic domain of TNSALP, (2) the Fc region of human immunoglobulin G1, and (3) a sequence of ten L-aspartate residues at the carboxy terminus. The two chains are linked by two disulfide bridges. Each chain also contains four internal disulfide bridges.The complete peptide sequence of one chain is
LVPEKEKDPK YWRDQAQETL KYALELQKLN TNVAKNVIMF LGDGMGVSTV TAARILKGQL
HHNPGEETRL EMDKFPFVAL SKTYNTNAQV PDSAGTATAY LCGVKANEGT VGVSAATERS
RCNTTQGNEV TSILRWAKDA GKSVGIVTTT RVNHATPSAA YAHSADRDWY SDNEMPPEAL
SQGCKDIAYQ LMHNIRDIDV IMGGGRKYMY PKNKTDVEYE SDEKARGTRL DGLDLVDTWK
SFKPRYKHSH FIWNRTELLT LDPHNVDYLL GLFEPGDMQY ELNRNNVTDP SLSEMVVVAI
QILRKNPKGF FLLVEGGRID HGHHEGKAKQ ALHEAVEMDR AIGQAGSLTS SEDTLTVVTA
DHSHVFTFGG YTPRGNSIFG LAPMLSDTDK KPFTAILYGN GPGYKVVGGE RENVSMVDYA
HNNYQAQSAV PLRHETHGGE DVAVFSKGPM AHLLHGVHEQ NYVPHVMAYA ACIGANLGHC
APASSLKDKT HTCPPCPAPE LLGGPSVFLF PPKPKDTLMI SRTPEVTCVV VDVSHEDPEV
KFNWYVDGVE VHNAKTKPRE EQYNSTYRVV SVLTVLHQDW LNGKEYKCKV SNKALPAPIE
KTISKAKGQP REPQVYTLPP SREEMTKNQV SLTCLVKGFY PSDIAVEWES NGQPENNYKT
TPPVLDSDGS FFLYSKLTVD KSRWQQGNVF SCSVMHEALH NHYTQKSLSL SPGKDIDDDD
DDDDDD 

Asfotase alfa is produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells.