Astellas Pharma and Seagen announced a marketing authorization application (MAA) for enfortumab vedotin was accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The MAA requests review of enfortumab vedotin for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have received a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor and who have received a platinum-containing chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant, locally advanced or metastatic setting. If approved, enfortumab vedotin would be the first antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) available in the European Union for people living with urothelial cancer.
Enfortumab vedotin will be reviewed under accelerated assessment, which means the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) can reduce the timeframe for evaluation.
The MAA is based on the global phase 3 EV-301 trial, which evaluated enfortumab vedotin versus chemotherapy in adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and a PD-1/L1 inhibitor. Results from the trial, which had a primary endpoint of overall survival for patients treated with PADCEV versus chemotherapy, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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"In the European Union, it is estimated that 118,000 people are diagnosed with urothelial cancer each year, and 52,000 die as a result of the disease," said Andrew Krivoshik, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Oncology Therapeutic Area Head, Astellas. "People with advanced urothelial cancer face an urgent need for new treatment options, which is reflected in the CHMP's decision to grant accelerated assessment. We will continue to work with the CHMP toward our goal of securing marketing authorization as soon as possible."
Urothelial cancer is the most common type of bladder cancer (90 percent of cases), and can also be found in the renal pelvis (where urine collects inside the kidney), ureter (tube that connects the kidneys to the bladder) and urethra. Globally, approximately 549,000 new cases of bladder cancer and 200,000 deaths are reported annually. In Europe, it is estimated that 118,000 patients are diagnosed with this form of cancer and 52,000 deaths are reported annually.
Locally advanced and metastatic urothelial cancer is an aggressive disease that is associated with poor survival and high healthcare costs. Five-year relative survival rates for metastatic disease are estimated to be approximately 7 percent.
The EV-301 trial (NCT03474107) is a global, multicenter, open-label, randomized phase 3 trial designed to evaluate enfortumab vedotin versus physician's choice of chemotherapy (docetaxel, paclitaxel or vinflunine) in approximately 600 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were previously treated with a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and platinum-based therapies. The primary endpoint is overall survival and secondary endpoints include progression-free survival, overall response rate, duration of response and disease control rate, as well as assessment of safety/tolerability and quality-of-life parameters.