US FDA grants priority review to Roche’s Tecentriq as adjuvant treatment for non-small cell lung cancer

Roche yesterday announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for Tecentriq (atezolizumab) as adjuvant treatment following surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy for people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumours express PD-L1≥1 per cent, as determined by an FDA-approved test. The FDA is reviewing the application under the Real-Time Oncology Review pilot programme, which aims to explore a more efficient review process to ensure safe and effective treatments are available to patients as early as possible. The FDA is expected to make a decision on approval by 1st December, 2021, according to a company statement.

“New treatment options are urgently needed in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer to help the nearly 50 per cent of people who currently experience a recurrence following surgery,” said Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer and Head, Global Product Development, Roche.

“Tecentriq is the first cancer immunotherapy to show a clinically meaningful benefit in the adjuvant lung cancer setting, and we’re working closely with the FDA to bring this significant advancement to patients as quickly as possible,” he added.

This application is based on disease-free survival (DFS) results from an interim analysis of the Phase III IMpower010 study, the first and only phase-III study of a cancer immunotherapy to demonstrate positive results in the adjuvant lung cancer setting. The study showed that treatment with Tecentriq, following surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy, reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death (DFS) by 34 per cent (hazard ratio [HR]=0.66, 95% CI: 0.50-0.88) in people with Stage II-IIIA NSCLC whose tumours express PD-L1≥1%, compared with the best supportive care (BSC), mentioned the statement.

It also said that in this population, median DFS was not yet reached for Tecentriq compared with 35.3 months for BSC. Follow-up on the IMpower010 trial will continue with planned analyses of DFS in the overall intent-to-treat (ITT) population, including Stage IB patients, which, at the time of analysis, did not cross the threshold, and overall survival (OS) data, which were immature at the time of interim analysis. Safety data for Tecentriq were consistent with its known safety profile and no new safety signals were identified. Results from the IMpower010 trial were presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting.