On January 20, 2025 Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd (Junshi Biosciences, HKEX: 1877; SSE: 688180), a leading innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TopAlliance Biosciences Inc. (TopAlliance Biosciences), reported a distribution and marketing partnership with LEO Pharma for toripalimab in Europe (Press release, Shanghai Junshi Bioscience, JAN 20, 2025, View Source [SID1234656131]). This collaboration aims to promote the accessibility of toripalimab in Europe, offering high-quality, innovative treatments to patients across up to 32 European countries.

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Toripalimab, independently developed by Junshi Biosciences, is a monoclonal antibody targeting PD-1 for the treatment of multiple malignant tumors. To date, toripalimab has been approved for marketing in over 35 countries and regions around the world. In 2024, toripalimab received approvals from both the European Commission (EC) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the following indications: 1) in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adult patients with recurrent, not amenable to surgery or radiotherapy, or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); 2) in combination with cisplatin and paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Toripalimab is the first and only drug in Europe for the treatment of NPC, and the only first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic ESCC, regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression status.

Under the agreement, LEO Pharma will be responsible for toripalimab’s distribution, promotion, sales, etc., in up to 32 countries, including all member states of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as Switzerland and the United Kingdom. TopAlliance Biosciences Europe will remain the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) for toripalimab in Europe, retaining responsibility for product development, manufacturing, registration, pharmacovigilance, quality management, etc. LEO Pharma will make payments, including an upfront payment, milestone payments if LEO Pharma wishes to pursue any subsequently approved indications, and a revenue share of a double-digit percentage on the net sales of toripalimab throughout the collaboration territory.

Dr. Sheng YAO, Senior Vice President of Junshi Biosciences and CEO of TopAlliance Biosciences, said, "The partnership with LEO Pharma has established a significant milestone for Junshi Biosciences in the European market and is closely aligned with the company’s global expansion strategy. Europe has been identified as a pivotal strategic region for the corporate business growth. As the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) of the product in Europe, the company has already established a local operational center and is actively collaborating with local health authorities to prepare for the successful commercial launch of toripalimab in Europe. As a century-old multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Europe, LEO Pharma has established a mature distribution network and rich marketing expertise in the local markets. By leveraging both parties’ strengths in R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization, we believe toripalimab will be efficiently integrated into the Europe markets benefitting local patients-in-need. Moving forward, we will continue to implement our ‘In China, For Global’ strategy and work with partners to provide high-quality, innovative therapies from China to patients worldwide."

Jean Monin, Executive Vice President of Thrombosis Business Unit, LEO Pharma, commented, "We are excited to partner with Junshi Biosciences, supplementing LEO Pharma’s Thrombosis business, which already serves patients with cancer-associated thrombosis. The distribution and marketing partnership for LOQTORZI brings an important new treatment option to areas of high unmet medical need and focuses on a specialty hospital product that complement our existing heparin-based anti-coagulation treatments for cancer-associated thrombosis and other specialty patients. Leveraging our commercial platform, LOQTORZI will create valuable synergies and drive continued growth."

About Toripalimab

Toripalimab is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody developed for its ability to block PD-1 interactions with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, and to induce PD-1 receptor internalization (endocytosis function). Blocking PD-1 interactions with PD-L1 and PD-L2 promotes the immune system’s ability to attack and kill tumor cells.

More than forty company-sponsored toripalimab clinical studies covering more than fifteen indications have been conducted globally by Junshi Biosciences, including in China, the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Ongoing or completed pivotal clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of toripalimab cover a broad range of tumor types, including cancers of the lung, nasopharynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder, breast, liver, kidney, and skin.

In the Chinese mainland, toripalimab was the first domestic anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for marketing (approved in China as TUOYI). Currently, there are ten approved indications for toripalimab in the Chinese mainland:

unresectable or metastatic melanoma after failure of standard systemic therapy;
recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after failure of at least two lines of prior systemic therapy;
locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that failed platinum-containing chemotherapy or progressed within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy;
in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine as the first-line treatment for patients with locally recurrent or metastatic NPC;
in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin in first-line treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced/recurrent or distant metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC);
in combination with pemetrexed and platinum as the first-line treatment in EGFR mutation-negative and ALK mutation-negative, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC);
in combination with chemotherapy as perioperative treatment and subsequently with monotherapy as adjuvant therapy for the treatment of adult patients with resectable stage IIIA-IIIB NSCLC;
in combination with axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with medium to high risk unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC);
in combination with etoposide plus platinum for the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC);
in combination with paclitaxel for injection (albumin-bound) for the first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
The ten indications have been included in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) (2024 Edition). Toripalimab is the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody included in the NRDL for the treatment of melanoma, perioperative treatment of NSCLC, treatment of RCC and treatment of TNBC. In October 2024, toripalimab for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic NPC was approved in Hong Kong SAR, China.

Internationally, toripalimab has been approved for marketing in the United States, the European Union, India, the UK, Jordan, Australia and other countries and regions. In addition, toripalimab BLAs are under reviews in many countries around the global, including the Singapore Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

On January 17, 2025 Stamford reported positive results for its ASN-002-003 multi-lesional clinical trial (NCT 04416516. Protocol No ASN-002-003) evaluating SP-002, an Adenovirus-5 replication deficient vector encoding human Interferon- g in combination with vismodegib (a Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor) in subjects presenting with mul/ple BCCs (Press release, Stamford Pharmaceuticals, JAN 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234649770]). The collected demographic data revealed subjects that were presenting with multiple BCCs had a history of multiple BCCs (and oLen a family history of multiple BCCs), thus representing a high-burden disease pa/ent group. 1 Three cohorts (cohorts 1, 2, 6) were evaluated in ASN-002-003. 2 Cohort 1 (1 target lesion) and Cohort 2 lesions (up to 3 target lesions)2 were both treated with 1.0e11vp/lesion and 4-weeks of vismodegib. 3 Cohort 6 (up to 3 target lesions) were treated with 1.5e11vp/lesion and 4-weeks of vismodegib. Cohort 1, 2 and 6 achieved a complete histological clearance rate (CHC) of 75%, 53% and 48% in the Intent to treat (ITT) population (46 lesions evaluated). A Histopathologic criteria4 predic/ve of poor response to SP-002 was first iden/fied in the ASN-002-001 (NCT02550678. Protocol No ASN-002-001) clinical study and was also evaluated in the current study (ASN-002-003). In ASN-002-003, all lesions lacking these histopathologic features predictive of poor response (n=23) across Cohorts 1, 2 and 6, achieved complete histological clearance, resul/ng in a CHC rate of 100%.

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The combination of SP-002 plus vismodegib was consistent with safety profiles of the individual agents with no new safety signals observed. Adverse events were generally mild to moderate in severity, no grade 4 or 5 events were observed. The observed safety profile for eligible subjects treated with weekly injections for local reactions was as follows: No Adverse Events (AEs): 15.2%; Grade 1 AEs: 34.8%; Grade 2 AEs: 47.8%; and Grade 3 AEs: 2.2%. Local AEs included swelling, erythema and ulceration/scabbing at the injection site.

Based on the study data, all participants experienced at least one treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), with 95.2% repor/ng events potentially related to vismodegib. Common systemic adverse events included muscle spasms (52.4%), nausea (19.0%), and fa?gue (14.3%), consistent with the known safety profile of the drug. While most AEs were mild to moderate, they were carefully monitored to ensure participant safety and provide insights into vismodegib’s tolerability.

"We are very pleased with these positive results from the Phase 2 study demonstrating the safety and efficacy of our gene therapy for patients with multiple nodular and superficial BCCs. We are particularly excited that the histopathologic criteria, which would allow responsive patients to be identified at screening and used for patient selection. This histopathologic criterion was first noted in the ASN-002-001 clinical study and has now been successfully reproduced in ASN-002-003. We believe this enables us to develop a useful treatment option for patients with nodular BCC and addresses the important need for a non-surgical option for those with BCCs in the H-zone or for those who are not ideal candidates for surgery." Dr Clement Leong (PhD), CEO of Stamford Pharmaceuticals.

"We are excited to have a novel approach that seeks to address the significant unmet needs in the treatment of basal cell carcinoma, particularly for patients managing multiple lesions. This innovative solution may hold promise for tumors located in the H-zone or other high-risk areas of the body, where effective and targeted non-surgical care options are critically important." Dr Sherrif F. Ibrahim, (MD, PhD), Rochester Dermatologic Surgery, P.C. "These results highlight the potential of this product to substantially enhance clearance rates compared to existing non-surgical treatment options for nodular BCC." Professor John Lear, MB ChB, MD, FRCP (UK), Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS foundation trust, UK.

Analyses of the full Phase 2 dataset are ongoing and additional biomarker/translational research findings are to be presented at upcoming medical conferences. SP-002 has received Orphan Drug designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stamford plans to discuss these findings with regulatory authorities in the coming months to prepare for a pivotal late-stage clinical study.

On January 17, 2025 Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd (Junshi Biosciences, HKEX: 1877; SSE: 688180), a leading innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TopAlliance Biosciences Inc. (TopAlliance Biosciences), reported that toripalimab, the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody self-developed by the company, has obtained the marketing authorization issued by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (the "TGA") (Press release, Shanghai Junshi Bioscience, JAN 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234656132]). The New Chemical Entity (the "NCE") application for toripalimab in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine, for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent, locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma ("NPC") and toripalimab, as a single agent, for the treatment of adults with recurrent unresectable or metastatic NPC with disease progression on or after a platinum-containing chemotherapy has been approved by TGA. Toripalimab has become the first and only immuno-onocology treatment for NPC in Australia.

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This NCE application was submitted under Project Orbis. Project Orbis, initiated and advocated by the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) of the US Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA"), provides a collaborative mechanism and framework among the FDA and regulatory authorities in other countries and regions allowing different regulatory authorities to jointly review the applications for registration of oncology drugs. Toripalimab was the first domestic oncology drug included in Project Orbis. Additionally, the TGA also granted an orphan drug designation to toripalimab for the treatment of NPC, which has accelerated the review and registration process to a certain extent.

General Manager and CEO of Junshi Biosciences, Dr. Jianjun ZOU, said, "Toripalimab has made significant strides in its internationalization. As of today, toripalimab has been approved in 35 countries across four continents and offers hope to patients worldwide. This recent approval in Australia is not only extremely meaningful to the nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients there, but it also represents our company’s continued efforts toward globalization. In the following days, we will closely collaborate with our partner Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory to expedite toripalimab’s availability in Australia, ensuring that local patients can benefit from this treatment as soon as possible."

M.V. Ramana, CEO of Branded Markets, Dr. Reddy’s, said: "This approval is a significant milestone in our collaborative efforts with Junshi Biosciences to make their novel treatment available to patients around the world. Toripalimab is the first and only immuno-onocology treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Australia, and meets a significant unmet need for patients. In oncology, our offerings aim to build an end-to-end ecosystem of care – access to current standard of care cancer medicines across multiple countries globally, innovation in formulations, strategic collaborations for novel innovative molecules, beyond-the-pill support such as nutrition and digital tools. Following our successful launch of toripalimab in India, we are looking forward to bringing it to patients in Australia and other markets in the coming days."

NPC is a malignant tumor that occurs in the epithelium mucosae of the nasopharynx and is one of the most common types of head and neck cancers. According to GLOBOCAN 2022 statistics, the number of newly diagnosed NPC cases in 2022 exceeded 120,000 worldwide. Toripalimab is the only preferred regimen recommended for the comprehensive treatment of recurrent or metastatic NPC in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines (Version 1.2025) for head and neck cancers.

The approval of the NPC indications is primarily based on the results from JUPITER-02 (a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational multi-center Phase 3 clinical study for the first-line treatment of NPC, NCT03581786), and the results from POLARIS-02 (a multi-center, open-label, pivotal Phase 2 clinical study for second-line or later treatment of recurrent or metastatic NPC, NCT02915432).

The JUPITER-02 study is the first international multi-center, double-blind, randomized Phase 3 clinical study in NPC immunotherapy with the largest sample size, and is the world’s first Phase 3 clinical study in which there is preset statistical verification (Type I error control) for Overall Survival ("OS") in first-line immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy for NPC compared to chemotherapy alone that demonstrated a survival benefit. The results of the study were presented in an oral report during the Plenary Session of the 2021 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) (#LBA2), and were subsequently featured on the cover of Nature Medicine (IF: 58.7). The results were also published in full in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, IF: 63.1). The results of the study showed that, compared to chemotherapy alone, toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression by 48% and the risk of death by 37%. The median progression-free survival ("PFS") in the toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy group was prolonged by 13.2 months compared to chemotherapy alone, from 8.2 months to 21.4 months. In addition, patients treated with this combined therapy achieved a higher objective response rate ("ORR") and longer duration of response ("DoR"), with a complete response (CR) rate of 26.7%, and no new safety signal was identified. Long-term survival follow-up data was presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2024, with a 5-year survival rate of 52%.

The POLARIS-02 results were published online in January 2021 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The results showed that toripalimab demonstrated durable antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile in patients with recurrent or metastatic NPC who had failed prior chemotherapy, with an ORR of 20.5%, a DoR of 12.8 months, and a median OS of 17.4 months.

As of today, toripalimab has been approved for marketing in over 35 countries and regions in 4 continents, including China, Hong Kong SAR, the United States, the European Union, the UK, Australia, India, Jordan, etc.

About Toripalimab

Toripalimab is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody developed for its ability to block PD-1 interactions with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, and to induce PD-1 receptor internalization (endocytosis function). Blocking PD-1 interactions with PD-L1 and PD-L2 promotes the immune system’s ability to attack and kill tumor cells.

More than forty company-sponsored toripalimab clinical studies covering more than fifteen indications have been conducted globally by Junshi Biosciences, including in China, the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia. Ongoing or completed pivotal clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of toripalimab cover a broad range of tumor types, including cancers of the lung, nasopharynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder, breast, liver, kidney, and skin.

In the Chinese mainland, toripalimab was the first domestic anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for marketing (approved in China as TUOYI). Currently, there are ten approved indications for toripalimab in the Chinese mainland:

unresectable or metastatic melanoma after failure of standard systemic therapy;
recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after failure of at least two lines of prior systemic therapy;
locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that failed platinum-containing chemotherapy or progressed within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy;
in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine as the first-line treatment for patients with locally recurrent or metastatic NPC;
in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin in first-line treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced/recurrent or distant metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC);
in combination with pemetrexed and platinum as the first-line treatment in EGFR mutation-negative and ALK mutation-negative, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC);
in combination with chemotherapy as perioperative treatment and subsequently with monotherapy as adjuvant therapy for the treatment of adult patients with resectable stage IIIA-IIIB NSCLC;
in combination with axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with medium to high risk unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC);
in combination with etoposide plus platinum for the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC);
in combination with paclitaxel for injection (albumin-bound) for the first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
The 10 indications have been included in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) (2024 Edition). Toripalimab is the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody included in the NRDL for the treatment of melanoma, perioperative treatment of NSCLC, treatment of RCC and treatment of TNBC. In October 2024, toripalimab for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic NPC was approved in Hong Kong SAR, China.

Internationally, toripalimab has been approved for marketing in the United States, the European Union, India, the UK, Jordan, Australia and other countries and regions. In addition, toripalimab BLAs are under reviews in many countries around the global, including the Singapore Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

On January 17, 2025 AstraZeneca reported that Calquence (acalabrutinib) in combination with bendamustine and rituximab has been approved in the US for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who are ineligible for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Press release, AstraZeneca, JAN 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234649766]).

The approval was granted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after securing Priority Review. It was based on results from the ECHO Phase III trial which were presented at the European Hematology Association (EHA) (Free EHA Whitepaper) 2024 Congress.

MCL is a rare and typically aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), often diagnosed at an advanced stage.[1],[2] It is estimated that there are more than 21,000 patients diagnosed with MCL in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and China.[3]

Michael Wang, MD, Puddin Clarke Endowed Professor, Director of Mantle Cell Lymphoma Program of Excellence and principal investigator in the trial, said: "Managing this aggressive cancer requires maximising efficacy while maintaining tolerability, especially for elderly patients. Results from the pivotal ECHO trial highlight the promise of the acalabrutinib combination in defining a new standard of care, with today’s approval underscoring the transformative potential of this regimen as a first-line treatment for older patients with mantle cell lymphoma."

Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice-President, Oncology Haematology Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said: "With today’s approval, Calquence provides a critical new treatment option to mantle cell lymphoma patients in the US, with Calquence proven to deliver nearly one and a half years of additional time without disease progression. This approval brings a new and effective treatment option to those living with this disease and further reinforces our belief in Calquence as a backbone therapy across multiple blood cancers."

Meghan Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer, Lymphoma Research Foundation, said: "New treatment options have long been needed in the first-line treatment of mantle cell lymphoma in the US. Patients with this rare and often aggressive cancer can experience severe symptoms by the time they are diagnosed – having an effective therapy that can significantly improve outcomes for patients early in the treatment process is a much-needed advancement."

Results from the ECHO trial showed Calquence plus bendamustine and rituximab reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 27% compared to standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57-0.94; p=0.016). Median PFS was 66.4 months for patients treated with the Calquence combination versus 49.6 months with chemoimmunotherapy alone.

This approval additionally converts Calquence’s accelerated approval to a full approval for adult patients with MCL treated with at least one prior therapy, as granted by the FDA in October 2017.

The ECHO trial enrolled patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. After censoring for COVID-19 deaths, PFS was further improved in both arms, with the Calquence combination reducing the risk of disease progression or death by 36% (HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.48-0.84). Although OS data were not mature at the time of the analysis, when censored for COVID-19, a favourable trend was seen for OS (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.53-1.04), despite 69% of patients in the chemoimmunotherapy arm receiving treatment with a BTK inhibitor on relapse or disease progression.

The safety and tolerability of Calquence was consistent with its known safety profile, and no new safety signals were identified.

The US regulatory submission was reviewed under Project Orbis, which provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology medicines among participating international partners. As part of Project Orbis, Calquence plus chemoimmunotherapy is also under review by regulatory authorities in Australia, Canada, and Switzerland for the same indication. Regulatory applications are also under review in the EU, Japan, and other countries based on the ECHO results.

Notes

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)
While MCL patients initially respond to treatment, patients do tend to relapse.[4] MCL comprises about 3-6% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas, with an annual incidence of 0.5 per 100,000 population in Western countries; in the US, it is estimated that approximately 4,000 new patients are diagnosed with MCL each year.4,[5]

ECHO
ECHO is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-centre Phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Calquence plus bendamustine and rituximab compared to SoC chemoimmunotherapy (bendamustine and rituximab) in adult patients at or over 65 years of age (n=635) with previously untreated MCL.[6] Patients were randomised 1:1 to receive either Calquence or placebo administered orally twice per day, continuously, until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Additionally, all patients received six 28-day cycles of bendamustine on days 1 and 2 and rituximab on day 1 of each cycle, followed by rituximab maintenance for two years if patients achieved a response after induction therapy.6

The primary endpoint is PFS assessed by an Independent Review Committee; other efficacy endpoints include OS, overall response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR) and time to response (TTR).6 The trial was conducted in 27 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.6

The ECHO trial enrolled patients from May 2017 to March 2023, continuing through the COVID-19 pandemic. Prespecified PFS and OS analyses censoring for COVID-19 deaths were conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the study outcome in alignment with the FDA. Patients with blood cancer remain at a disproportionately high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, including hospitalisation and death compared to the general population.6,[7]

Calquence
Calquence (acalabrutinib) is a second-generation, selective inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK). Calquence binds covalently to BTK, thereby inhibiting its activity.[8] In B-cells, BTK signalling results in activation of pathways necessary for B-cell proliferation, trafficking, chemotaxis and adhesion.

Calquence has been used to treat more than 85,000 patients worldwide[9] and is approved for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in the US and Japan, approved for CLL in the EU and many other countries worldwide and approved in China for relapsed or refractory CLL and SLL. Calquence is also approved for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated MCL in the US, and in China and several other countries for the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy. Calquence is not currently approved for the treatment of MCL in Japan or the EU.

As part of an extensive clinical development programme, Calquence is currently being evaluated as a single treatment and in combination with standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy for patients with multiple B-cell blood cancers, including CLL, MCL and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

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On January 17, 2025 Astrazeneca and Daiichi sankyo reported that Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan or Dato-DXd) has been approved in the US for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative (IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-) breast cancer who have received prior endocrine-based therapy and chemotherapy for unresectable or metastatic disease (Press release, AstraZeneca, JAN 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234649767]). The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was based on results from the TROPION-Breast01 Phase III trial.

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Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, Program Director of Breast Oncology and Director of Translational Research Integration at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Global Principal Investigator for TROPION-Breast01, said: "Despite considerable progress in the HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer treatment landscape, new therapies are still needed to tackle the frequent and complex challenge of disease progression after endocrine and initial chemotherapy. The approval of datopotamab deruxtecan, a novel TROP2-directed antibody drug conjugate, marks a major therapeutic milestone and provides patients with metastatic breast cancer a new treatment alternative to conventional chemotherapy."

Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Haematology Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said: "With this first approval of Datroway in the US, we continue to deliver on our ambition for antibody drug conjugates to improve upon and replace conventional chemotherapy for the treatment of multiple cancers. We are proud to bring Datroway to people living with metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, and this approval marks the eighth new medicine of the 20 we have set out to deliver across AstraZeneca by 2030."

Ken Keller, Global Head of Oncology Business, and President and CEO, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., said: "The approval of Datroway provides patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer previously treated with endocrine-based therapy and traditional chemotherapy with the opportunity to be treated with a new TROP2-directed antibody drug conjugate earlier in the metastatic setting. Datroway is the latest addition to our portfolio of innovative cancer treatments and marks the fourth medicine from our oncology pipeline to receive approval in the US."

Caitlin Lewis, Senior Vice President of Strategy & Mission, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, said: "Only one in three patients with metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer live more than five years following diagnosis, highlighting the urgent need for additional effective therapies. The approval of Datroway is a significant advance, offering patients with metastatic HR-positive breast cancer a new and much-needed treatment option."

In TROPION-Breast01, Datroway significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 37% compared to investigator’s choice of chemotherapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52-0.76; p<0.0001) in patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6.9 months in patients treated with Datroway versus 4.9 months with chemotherapy.

The safety profile of Datroway was consistent with the known profile of this medicine with no new safety concerns identified. In the Datroway arm, the interstitial lung disease (ILD) rate was 4.2% and the majority of events were low grade.

Datroway is a specifically engineered TROP2-directed antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo and being jointly developed and commercialised by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo.

Additional regulatory submissions for Datroway in breast cancer are under review in the EU, China and other regions.

Notes

HR-positive breast cancer
In the US, more than 300,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually.1 While survival rates are high for those diagnosed with early breast cancer, only about 30% of patients diagnosed with or who progress to metastatic disease are expected to live five years following diagnosis.2

Approximately 70% of diagnosed cases are considered what has been historically called HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer (measured as HER2 score of IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-).2 Endocrine therapies are widely given consecutively in the early lines of treatment for HR-positive metastatic breast cancer.3 However, after initial treatment, further efficacy from endocrine therapy is often limited.3 The current standard of care following endocrine therapy is chemotherapy, which is associated with poor response rates and outcomes.3-6

TROPION-Breast01
TROPION-Breast01 is a global, randomised, multicentre, open-label Phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravenous Datroway (6 mg/kg) once per 21-day cycle versus investigator’s choice of single-agent chemotherapy (eribulin, capecitabine, vinorelbine or gemcitabine) in adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative (IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-) breast cancer who have progressed on and are not suitable for endocrine therapy per investigator assessment and have received at least one prior line of chemotherapy for unresectable or metastatic disease.

Following disease progression or discontinuation of Datroway or chemotherapy, patients had the option to receive a subsequent treatment at the discretion of their physician. Crossover between trial arms was not permitted.

The dual primary endpoints of TROPION-Breast01 are PFS as assessed by BICR and OS. Key secondary endpoints include ORR, duration of response, investigator-assessed PFS, disease control rate, time to first subsequent therapy and safety. The PFS data and additional results for key secondary endpoints of TROPION-Breast01 were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

TROPION-Breast01 enrolled 732 patients in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. For more information visit ClinicalTrials.gov.

Datroway
Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan-dlnk in the US; datopotamab deruxtecan in rest of world) is a TROP2-directed ADC. Designed using Daiichi Sankyo’s proprietary DXd ADC Technology, Datroway is one of six DXd ADCs in the oncology pipeline of Daiichi Sankyo, and one of the most advanced programmes in AstraZeneca’s ADC scientific platform. Datroway is comprised of a humanised anti-TROP2 IgG1 monoclonal antibody, developed in collaboration with Sapporo Medical University, attached to a number of topoisomerase I inhibitor payloads (an exatecan derivative, DXd) via tetrapeptide-based cleavable linkers.

Datroway (6mg/kg) is approved in the US and Japan for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative (IHC 0, IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-) breast cancer who have received prior endocrine-based therapy and chemotherapy for unresectable or metastatic disease based on the results from the TROPION-Breast01 Phase III trial.

Datroway clinical development programme
A comprehensive global clinical development programme is underway with more than 20 trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of Datroway across multiple cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The programme includes seven Phase III trials in lung cancer and five Phase III trials in breast cancer evaluating Datroway as a monotherapy and in combination with other anticancer treatments in various settings.