Medivation, Inc. announced that the FDA has lifted the partial clinical hold on the IND application for pidilizumab (MDV9300) in hematological malignancies and confirmed that the Phase II clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), as well as other studies that cross reference the IND, may now proceed. The partial clinical hold was not related to any safety concerns.
The investigator brochure, protocols, and informed consent documents related to the Phase II trial have satisfactorily been revised to reflect the company’s understanding that PD-1 (Programmed Death-1) is not the target of pidilizumab. No patients had yet been enrolled in the trial, which commenced in late 2015. Patients who were receiving pidilizumab through investigator-sponsored trials have continued to receive treatment and those investigators have been informed to update their protocols and informed consent documents to state that pidilizumab is not an anti-PD-1 antibody.
“We are delighted that the FDA has lifted the partial clinical hold and that we may proceed with our potentially pivotal trial in this area of high unmet medical need,” said David Hung, M.D., Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Medivation. “As we move forward, we also are working to determine the compound’s exact binding mechanism which, we believe, modulates the body’s innate immune response and differentiates it from the heavily crowded immuno-oncology space that targets the adaptive side of immunity.”
The company also intends to submit an amendment to the Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) section of the IND in the second quarter to provide for larger manufacturing lot sizes to better support the current and planned clinical activities for pidilizumab, which is intended for development in other hematologic malignancies, such as multiple myeloma. As such, the DLBCL trial is targeted to resume in the second half of this year.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates on the latest pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing news!
