On October 19, 2025 Novartis reported new Pluvicto (lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan) data from the Phase III PSMAddition trial in a Presidential Symposium at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2025.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Pluvicto plus standard of care (SoC) (androgen receptor pathway inhibitor [ARPI] + androgen deprivation therapy [ADT]) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS), reducing the risk of radiographic progression or death by 28% (HR 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58, 0.90) versus SoC alone in patients with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)+ metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC)1.
Results also show an early positive trend in overall survival (OS) in patients treated with Pluvicto plus SoC (HR 0.84; 95% CI: 0.63, 1.13); follow-up will continue until data are mature1. More patients achieved a complete response versus SoC alone (57.1% vs. 42.3%) and the overall response rate (ORR) was numerically higher in the Pluvicto plus SoC arm (85.3% vs. 80.8%)1. Pluvicto delayed time to progression to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) (HR 0.70; 95% CI: 0.58, 0.84)1. The rPFS benefit was consistent across pre-specified subgroups1.
"In metastatic prostate cancer, choosing the most efficacious treatment early is crucial, even at initial diagnosis," said Scott T. Tagawa, MD, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a medical oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. "These findings suggest that combining 177Lu-PSMA-617 with standard of care hormonal therapy offers patients more time without disease progression, a safety profile with adverse events that are most often low grade and managed with supportive care, and an encouraging trend in overall survival."
"These results reinforce the potential for Pluvicto, a radioligand therapy that delivers treatment directly to target cells, to change how we treat metastatic prostate cancer," said Shreeram Aradhye, President, Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. "With significant benefit now shown across multiple disease stages, Pluvicto is redefining the standard of care. The strength of these results reflects our deep commitment to patients with prostate cancer and our leadership in radioligand therapy."
The safety profile and tolerability of Pluvicto were consistent with its established profile in PSMAfore and VISION1,4,5. Grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) were reported in 50.7% of patients in the Pluvicto plus SoC arm, compared to 43% on SoC alone1. The most common all-grade AEs were dry mouth, fatigue, nausea, hot flush and anemia1.
PSMAddition marks the third positive Phase III trial with Pluvicto1,4,5. Building on the significant benefit demonstrated in PSMAfore, which led to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in pre-taxane mCRPC in March 2025, these new results strengthen the evidence base for Pluvicto and demonstrate its potential to improve outcomes in an even earlier stage of metastatic prostate cancer1,4,6. Novartis plans to submit these data to regulatory authorities before end of year.
About unmet need in mHSPC
Approximately 172,000 men are diagnosed with mHSPC each year across the US, China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom1. Most patients progress to mCRPC, typically within 20 months2,3,7,8. Progression to mCRPC is associated with significantly worse outcomes, including increased patient burden, worse quality of life and life expectancy less than two years9,10. More than 80% of patients with prostate cancer highly express the PSMA biomarker, making it a promising therapeutic target11-15.
About PSMAddition
PSMAddition (NCT04720157) is a Phase III, open-label, prospective, 1:1 randomized study comparing the efficacy and safety of Pluvicto in combination with SoC (ARPI + ADT) vs. SoC alone in adult patients with PSMA+ mHSPC16. The primary endpoint is rPFS, defined as the time to radiographic progression by PCWG3-modified RECIST V1.1 (as assessed by BIRC) or death16. The key secondary endpoint of OS is defined as time to death due to any cause16. The study remains ongoing and a total of 1,144 patients with mHSPC across 20 countries have been randomized in the trial16.
About Pluvicto (lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan)
Pluvicto is an intravenous RLT that combines a targeting compound (a ligand) with a therapeutic radionuclide (a radioactive particle, in this case lutetium-177)5,17. After administration into the bloodstream, Pluvicto binds to PSMA-expressing target cells, including prostate cancer cells that express PSMA, a transmembrane protein5,17. Once bound, energy emissions from the radioisotope damage the target cells and nearby cells, disrupting their ability to replicate and/or triggering cell death17.
Pluvicto is the only PSMA-targeted agent approved for PSMA+ mCRPC and is the first RLT to demonstrate a clinical benefit for patients with PSMA+ mHSPC in a Phase III trial1. Novartis is investigating Pluvicto in oligometastatic prostate cancer, an earlier stage of disease, in the PSMA-DC trial (NCT05939414).
(Press release, Novartis, OCT 19, 2025, View Source [SID1234656773])