Patients with EGFR-mutated metastatic non–small cell lung cancer may achieve benefit from treatment with patritumab deruxtecan, which was granted breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA.
Patritumab deruxtecan (U3-1402), a potential first-in-class HER3 directed antibody-drug conjugate, was granted breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA for the treatment of patients with metastatic or locally advanced, EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a press release from developer Daiichi-Sankyo.1
The regulatory decision, which is designed to accelerate the development and regulatory review process of potential new therapies, was based on data from a dose escalation study and 2 expansion cohorts from a 3-cohort trial.
“The breakthrough therapy designation for patritumab deruxtecan acknowledges the need for new treatment approaches to overcome resistance and improve survival in patients with metastatic TKI-resistant, EGFR-mutated [NSCLC],” Ken Takeshita, MD, global head of R&D at Daiichi Sankyo, said in a press release. “We are proud that the FDA has once again recognized our innovative science and technology and we look forward to bringing this potential first-in-class HER3 directed antibody drug conjugate to patients with this specific type of lung cancer as quickly as possible.”
Data from a phase 1 trial (NCT03260491) assessing the efficacy of patritumab deruxtecan in a heavily pretreated population of patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC that have become resistant to other TKIs were read out at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting: Lung Cancer.2 A 5.6 mg/kg dose of the treatment resulted in a confirmed objective response rate of 39% (95% CI, 26%-52%) in a population of patients who were previously treated with a TKI and platinum-based therapy (n = 57). Additionally, treatment with patritumab deruxtecan resulted in a disease control rate of 72% (95% CI, 59%-83%), as well as a median progression-free survival of 8.2 months (95% CI, 4.0–not evaluable).
Notably, this is the first breakthrough therapy designation for patritumab deruxtecan.
These data support less restrictive clinical trial eligibility criteria for those with metastatic NSCLC. This is especially true regarding both targeted therapy and immunotherapy treatment regimens.