Ferring Sees Financial Success with Bladder Cancer Gene Therapy, Announces Plans for New Manufacturing Facility
The company will be adding a new manufacturing site to its NJ campus for the drug Adstiladrin.
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Ferring Pharmaceuticals announced strong performance results for 2024, with one part of the announcement standing out as being particularly good for the company.
Last year, Ferring had record sales of €2.34 billion (about $2.66 billion), with the company’s reproductive medicine franchise being its strongest driver of sales, Citeline reports.1 However, sales for Ferring’s new bladder cancer treatment Adstiladrin were notably strong. Despite last year only being the first full year that the drug has been on the market, it was able to account for €70 (about $79 million) of Ferring’s total sales for the year.
Ferring recently announced the results of Phase 3 trials in Japan for Adstiladrin, which showed a 75% complete response rate at three months in patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-unresponsive NMIBC.2 These results are in line with independently collected RWD, which showed a 79% response rate.
The results were announced at the 112th annual meeting of the Japanese Urological Association.
In a press release, Ferring’s vice president and head of global research and medical for uro-oncology and urology Joern Jakobsen, MD, PhD, said, “At Ferring, we are committed to meeting the unmet needs in bladder cancer care and equipping uro-oncologists with critical evidence they need to deliver effective and life-changing treatment. These initial Phase 3 findings from Japan affirm the safety profile of Adstiladrin, demonstrating a three-month efficacy that appears to be higher than previously reported in our Phase 3 clinical trial, and consistent with results from an ongoing independent real-world study presented earlier this year. Collectively, the data are broadening our understanding of the value that Adstiladrin offers, furthering our journey to establish Adstiladrin as the new standard of care and backbone therapy across the urothelial cancer disease spectrum.”
In another move to advance the drug’s market presence, Ferring announced FDA approval for a manufacturing facility in Parsippany, NJ, for Adstiladrin.3 Not only will this move help ensure a sufficient supply of the medication, it also fulfills the requirements for a final $200 million payment from Royalty Pharma.
The new facility will be located on Ferring’s existing US campus in Parsippany, NJ.
In a press release, Ferring Pharmaceuticals’ executive vice president and chief technical operations officer Armin Metzger said, “The FDA approval of our new manufacturing facility for Adstiladrin represents our unwavering dedication to delivering high-quality, innovative therapies at scale. This expansion and diversification of our manufacturing footprint will further ensure stable and sustainable supply of Adstiladrin to meet the anticipated growth in global demand.”
In the same press release, Bipin Dalmia, global head of uro-oncology and urology franchise at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, said, “Adstiladrin has transformed the treatment landscape for BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer patients and drives Ferring’s continued growth in uro-oncology. The growing body of clinical evidence for ADSTILADRIN—including the recently announced independent real-world data2 and data from our Japan Phase 3 trial3—underscores the impact of this therapy. The FDA’s approval of this additional manufacturing site is a testament to our commitment to make ADSTILADRIN globally available to every bladder cancer patient who needs it.”
Sources
- Grogan, Kevin. Ferring’s Faith In Bladder Cancer Gene Therapy Starts To Pay Off. Citeline. April 10, 2025. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://insights.citeline.com/scrip/business/earnings/ferrings-faith-in-bladder-cancer-gene-therapy-starts-to-pay-off-J2BO35WNGVFY3OWHPQCO43BLF4/
- Ferring Unveils New Data with ADSTILADRIN® (nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg) at 112th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Urological Association. Ferring Pharmaceuticals. April 21, 2025. https://ferringusa.com/?press=ferring-unveils-new-data-with-adstiladrin-nadofaragene-firadenovec-vncg-at-112th-annual-meeting-of-the-japanese-urological-association
- U.S. FDA Approves Second Drug Product Manufacturing Facility for ADSTILADRIN® (nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg). Ferring Pharmaceuticals. April 24, 2025. https://ferringusa.com/?press=u-s-fda-approves-second-drug-product-manufacturing-facility-for-adstiladrin-nadofaragene-firadenovec-vncg
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