Photo from Business Wire
Brentuximab vedotin
The European Commission (EC) has extended the conditional marketing authorization for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris®).
The drug is now approved for use in adults with CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) who have received at least 1 prior systemic therapy.
Brentuximab vedotin can be marketed for this indication in the member states of the European Union as well as in Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland.
Conditional marketing authorization from the EC is valid for 1 year and is reviewed annually.
With conditional authorization, drug developers are required to provide comprehensive data confirming a drug’s benefit-risk balance is positive. Once these data are available, a conditional marketing authorization may be converted to a standard marketing authorization.
Drugs are eligible for conditional marketing authorization if they are designated as orphan medicines, intended for use in emergency situations, or designed to treat, prevent, or diagnose seriously debilitating or life-threatening diseases.
The EC previously granted brentuximab vedotin conditional marketing authorization for the treatment of:
- Adults with CD30+ Hodgkin lymphoma who are at an increased risk of relapse or progression following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (auto-HSCT)
- Adults with relapsed or refractory CD30+ Hodgkin lymphoma after auto-HSCT or after at least 2 prior therapies when auto-HSCT or multi-agent chemotherapy is not a treatment option
- Adults with relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.
Brentuximab vedotin is under joint development by Seattle Genetics and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.
Phase 3 data
The EC’s latest authorization for brentuximab vedotin is based on data from the phase 3 ALCANZA trial.
Updated results from ALCANZA were presented at the 2017 ASH Annual Meeting in December. Results were previously presented at the 9th Annual T-cell Lymphoma Forum in January 2017 and published in The Lancet in June 2017.
The trial included 128 evaluable patients with CD30-positive CTCL who had received at least 1 prior systemic therapy.
Sixty-four patients were assigned to receive brentuximab vedotin, and 64 were assigned to receive the investigator’s choice of methotrexate or bexarotene (control arm). Patients received treatment for up to 1 year.
For the update, the median follow-up was 33.9 months.
There was a significant improvement in the rate of objective response lasting at least 4 months (ORR4) in the brentuximab vedotin arm compared to the control arm. The ORR4 was 60.9% and 7.8%, respectively (P<0.001). The complete response rate was 18.8% and 0%, respectively (P<0.001).
The median progression-free survival was 15.8 months in the brentuximab vedotin arm and 3.6 months in the control arm (hazard ratio=0.373; 95% CI, 0.245-0.569; P<0.001).
At time of analysis, 73% of patients in the brentuximab vedotin arm and 75% in the control arm had received 1 or more subsequent skin-directed or systemic therapies. The median time to next treatment was 14.2 months in the brentuximab vedotin arm and 6.1 months in the control arm (P<0.001).
Peripheral neuropathy was the most commonly reported adverse event in patients who received brentuximab vedotin. The incidence was 67% in these patients and 6% in controls.
In the brentuximab arm, 86% of patients reported resolution or improvement in peripheral neuropathy. Eighteen patients had ongoing peripheral neuropathy events, including 15 patients with grade 1 and 3 patients with grade 2 events.
