On July 14, 2017 Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) reported the submission of a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a variation to the marketing application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to include overall survival (OS) data from the Phase 3 head-to-head ENDEAVOR trial in the product information for KYPROLIS (carfilzomib) (Press release, Amgen, JUL 14, 2017, View Source [SID1234519801]).

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Data submitted to regulatory authorities showed that KYPROLIS, administered at the 56 mg/m2 dose as a 30-minute infusion twice weekly with dexamethasone (Kd56), reduced the risk of death by 21 percent over Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone (Vd), resulting in a 7.6 month OS benefit (median OS 47.6 months for Kd56 versus 40.0 months for Vd, HR=0.79; p=0.01). The OS benefit was consistent regardless of prior bortezomib therapy (HR 0.75 for no prior Velcade; HR 0.84 for prior Velcade). These results were presented earlier this year at the 16th International Myeloma Workshop and the 22nd Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) (Free EHA Whitepaper).

"KYPROLIS is the first-and-only multiple myeloma therapy to demonstrate superior overall survival in a head-to-head comparison with a current standard of care, extending survival by 7.6 months over Velcade," said Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "We submitted these important data to regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Europe because we know that KYPROLIS may offer appropriate multiple myeloma patients a better chance for a longer life at first relapse compared to Velcade when added to dexamethasone."

Since its approval in 2012, KYPROLIS has been prescribed to more than 50,000 patients worldwide. The KYPROLIS clinical program continues to focus on providing solutions for physicians and patients in treating this frequently relapsing and difficult-to-treat cancer. KYPROLIS is available for patients whose myeloma has relapsed or become resistant to another treatment and continues to be studied in a range of combinations and patient populations.

Adverse events observed in this updated analysis were consistent with those previously reported for ENDEAVOR. The most common adverse events (greater than or equal to 20 percent) in the KYPROLIS arm were anemia, diarrhea, pyrexia, dyspnea, fatigue, hypertension, cough, insomnia, upper respiratory tract infection, peripheral edema, nausea, bronchitis, asthenia, back pain, thrombocytopenia and headache.

About ENDEAVOR
The randomized ENDEAVOR (RandomizEd, OpeN Label, Phase 3 Study of Carfilzomib Plus DExamethAsone Vs Bortezomib Plus DexamethasOne in Patients With Relapsed Multiple Myeloma) trial of 929 patients evaluated Kd56 versus Vd in patients whose multiple myeloma has relapsed after at least one, but not more than three prior therapeutic regimens. The primary endpoint of the trial was progression-free survival, defined as the time from treatment initiation to disease progression or death. The primary analysis was published in The Lancet Oncology and is described in the Prescribing Information.

Patients received treatment until progression with KYPROLIS as a 30-minute infusion on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 of 28 day treatment cycles, along with low-dose dexamethasone (20 mg). For cycle one only, KYPROLIS was administered at 20 mg/m2 on days 1 and 2, and if tolerated was escalated to 56 mg/m2 from day 8 cycle one onwards. Patients who received bortezomib (1.3 mg/m2) with low-dose dexamethasone (20 mg) were treated with bortezomib administered subcutaneously or intravenously at the discretion of the investigator and in accordance with regional regulatory approval of bortezomib. Eighty-two percent of the patients in the control arm received bortezomib subcutaneously. This study was conducted at 235 sites worldwide. For information about this trial, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov under trial identification number NCT01568866.

On July 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ, TASE: MYL) and Biocon Ltd. (BSE code: 532523, NSE: BIOCON) reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended approval of the companies’ proposed biosimilar trastuzumab (Press release, Mylan, JUL 13, 2017, View Source [SID1234519803]). The committee voted 16-0 in support of eligible indications of the reference product, Herceptin, which include HER2-positive breast cancer in the metastatic and adjuvant settings.

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Mylan President Rajiv Malik commented: "We are pleased with ODAC’s recommendation to support the approval of Mylan’s proposed biosimilar trastuzumab to increase affordability, competition and most importantly overall access and use. As one of the largest suppliers of cancer medicines by volume in the U.S., Mylan is committed to serving this important patient community. We look forward to working with FDA to further increase access to this important treatment option for the thousands of patients affected by HER2-positive breast cancer each year."

Biocon CEO and Joint Managing Director Dr. Arun Chandavarkar said: "We welcome ODAC’s endorsement of our biosimilar trastuzumab as it brings our collaboration a step closer to addressing the critical needs of cancer patients in the U.S. We now look forward to engaging with the FDA to seek final approval in order to expand access to a high-quality, affordable option for treating HER2-positive breast cancers."

Data presented to ODAC included results from analytical, nonclinical and clinical studies which demonstrated that our proposed biosimilar trastuzumab is highly similar to Herceptin, in line with the FDA assessment provided in the pre-meeting briefing documents. ODAC determined that no clinically meaningful differences exist between the biosimilar product and Herceptin in terms of safety, purity and potency. As such, the committee concluded that the totality of evidence supports a recommendation for FDA approval.

FDA uses advisory committees and panels to obtain independent expert advice on a variety of matters, including product approvals. FDA often follows the advice of ODAC in determining whether a product should come to market, although they are not required to follow it.

Mylan and Biocon’s proposed biosimilar trastuzumab also is under review by regulatory authorities in Australia, Canada, Europe and several emerging markets.

About the Biocon and Mylan Partnership
Mylan and Biocon are exclusive partners on a broad portfolio of biosimilar and insulin products. The proposed biosimilar trastuzumab is one of the six biologic products co-developed by Mylan and Biocon for the global marketplace. Mylan has exclusive commercialization rights for the proposed biosimilar trastuzumab in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and in the European Union and European Free Trade Association countries. Biocon has co-exclusive commercialization rights with Mylan for the product in the rest of the world.