FDA grants Genentech’s cancer immunotherapy TECENTRIQ^® (atezolizumab) priority review in additional type of advanced bladder cancer.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced that the U.S. FDA has accepted the company’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for TECENTRIQ^® (atezolizumab) for the treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who are ineligible for cisplatin chemotherapy, and are either previously untreated (first-line) or have disease progression at least 12 months after receiving chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) or after surgery (adjuvant). Urothelial carcinoma accounts for 90 percent of all bladder cancers and can also be found in the renal pelvis, ureter and urethra.

“In May 2016, TECENTRIQ became the first treatment approved by the FDA for people with previously treated advanced bladder cancer in more than 30 years,” said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. “We are committed to continue working with the FDA to make TECENTRIQ available to more people with this type of advanced bladder cancer, specifically those who are unable to tolerate cisplatin-based chemotherapy as an initial treatment.”

This sBLA submission for TECENTRIQ is based on results from the Phase II IMvigor210 study, and the FDA will make a decision on approval by April 30, 2017. A Priority Review designation is granted to medicines that the FDA has determined to have the potential to provide significant improvements in the safety and effectiveness of the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of a serious disease.

TECENTRIQ is currently approved by the FDA to treat people with locally advanced or mUC who have disease progression during or following platinum-based chemotherapy or whose disease has worsened within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy. TECENTRIQ is approved under accelerated approval for this indication based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. TECENTRIQ is also approved for the treatment of people with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, and have progressed on an appropriate FDA-approved targeted therapy if their tumor has EGFR or ALK gene abnormalities.

About the IMvigor210 Study

IMvigor210 is an open-label, multicenter, single-arm Phase II study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of TECENTRIQ in people with locally advanced or mUC, regardless of PD-L1 expression. People in the study were enrolled into one of two cohorts. Cohort 1, upon which this sBLA submission is based, consisted of people who were ineligible for first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy, and who had received no prior chemotherapies for locally advanced or mUC (i.e., first-line) or had disease progression at least 12 months after neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. Cohort 2, which served as the basis for the FDA’s accelerated approval of TECENTRIQ in May 2016, included people whose disease had progressed during or following previous treatment with a platinum-based chemotherapy regimen, or who had disease progression within 12 months of treatment with a platinum-based neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy regimen. The primary endpoint of the study was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included duration of response (DOR), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and safety.

About TECENTRIQ^® (atezolizumab)

TECENTRIQ is a monoclonal antibody designed to bind with a protein called PD-L1. TECENTRIQ is designed to bind to PD-L1 expressed on tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells, blocking its interactions with both PD-1 and B7.1 receptors. By inhibiting PD-L1, TECENTRIQ may enable the activation of T cells. TECENTRIQ may also affect normal cells.

(Source: Business Wire)

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