On March 9, 2023 Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE:4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") and Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) reported that the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has accepted the Biologics License Application (BLA) for enfortumab vedotin for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (la/mUC) who received prior treatment with a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and platinum-based chemotherapy (Press release, Astellas, MAR 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234628456]).
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"In China, there were nearly 86,000 new cases of bladder cancer in 2020, and we are working with the NMPA to seek approval for enfortumab vedotin for patients with advanced stage disease," said Ahsan Arozullah, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President and Head of Development Therapeutic Areas, Astellas. "Enfortumab vedotin has become a second- and third-line treatment option for many patients around the world with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer, and an approval in China may bring this therapy to those patients."
The BLA submission for enfortumab vedotin is based on data from the EV-203 study (NCT04995419), a single-arm, open-label, multicenter Phase 2 study of enfortumab vedotin in Chinese patients with la/mUC who previously received a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and platinum-based chemotherapy. Results showed that EV-203 met its primary endpoint, showing statistical significance in objective response rate (ORR) by independent review committee (IRC) for patients treated with enfortumab vedotin alone compared to historical controls. Efficacy and pharmacokinetic data from the study are in line with global data, and EV-203 is a bridging study to EV-301, a Phase 3 randomized study that has supported global registrations of enfortumab vedotin, and EV-201 Cohort 1.
Please see Important Safety Information, including BOXED WARNING, at the end of this press release for further safety information regarding enfortumab vedotin including serious skin reactions.
Enfortumab vedotin alone and in combination with other therapies is the subject of a robust clinical development program aimed at addressing unmet medical needs across the continuum of urothelial cancer and in other solid tumors.