A pharmaceutical company warns against the use of “Tafenius” after the death of 20 people

A Japanese pharmaceutical company warned against prescribing a drug intended to treat rare immune diseases to new patients, after 20 people who took it died.

Casey Pharmaceuticals, which sells Tafenius in Japan, reported that it sent a notification to health sector workers on Friday, saying that “20 deaths have been recorded” since the drug was launched in the country in June 2022.

The company warned doctors that the drug may cause “severe liver dysfunction,” calling for them not to prescribe it to new patients, and to evaluate whether current patients should continue treatment.

For its part, Casey and Amgen, the American biotechnology company that owns the drug, confirmed that there was no direct causal relationship between some deaths and the drug.

Casey reported that Tafenius has been prescribed to about 8,500 patients in Japan since its launch.

The drug is used to treat rare immune diseases that cause inflammation of the blood vessels, according to the European Medicines Agency.

Amgen said in a statement on Friday that “no known deaths associated with serious liver injury have been reported in the United States” among more than eight thousand patients treated with “Tavenius.”

But last month, the US Food and Drug Administration proposed withdrawing its approval of the drug due to concerns about data tampering and other issues.

Also, the European Medicines Agency announced in January that it had begun a review of the drug against the backdrop of concerns about the safety of the data.