The positive topline results of the phase 3 ECHELON-2 clinical trial were announced in October 2018 and full data will be presented at the upcoming American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, December 1-4, 2018 in San Diego, Calif.
ADCETRIS is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed to CD30, which is expressed on the surface of several types of PTCL. ADCETRIS is currently not approved for the frontline treatment of PTCL.
Seattle Genetics president and CEO Clay Siegall said: “CD30 is expressed in several subtypes of peripheral T-cell lymphoma, an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and the current standard of care for frontline treatment consisting of a multi-agent chemotherapy regimen called CHOP has not changed in several decades.
“Results from the ECHELON-2 trial demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival and importantly, overall survival, in patients with previously untreated CD30-expressing PTCL who were treated with ADCETRIS in combination with CHP chemotherapy over standard of care CHOP chemotherapy.
“We believe these superior results over standard of care represent a significant advance for patients with CD30-expressing PTCL and for the medical community, and we look forward to working with the FDA during the review process of this application to bring this potential new treatment regimen to patients as quickly as possible.”
The phase 3 ECHELON-2 clinical trial evaluated the combination of ADCETRIS plus CHP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) compared to a recognized standard of care chemotherapy regimen, CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone), in previously untreated CD30-expressing PTCL. T
he ECHELON-2 study met its primary endpoint demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) as assessed by an Independent Review Facility (IRF; hazard ratio=0.71; p-value=0.0110).
The ADCETRIS plus CHP arm also demonstrated superior overall survival (OS), a key secondary endpoint, compared to CHOP (hazard ratio=0.66; p-value=0.0244). All other key secondary endpoints, including PFS in patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL), complete remission rate and objective response rate were statistically significant in favor of the ADCETRIS plus CHP arm.
The safety profile of ADCETRIS plus CHP in the ECHELON-2 trial was comparable to CHOP and consistent with the established safety profile of ADCETRIS in combination with chemotherapy. Full data will be presented at the ASH Annual Meeting in the following session.
ECHELON-2 Phase 3 Clinical Trial Design
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial is investigating ADCETRIS plus CHP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) versus CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) as frontline therapy in patients with CD30-expressing peripheral T-cell lymphoma, also known as mature T-cell lymphoma.
The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS) per Independent Review Facility assessment, with events defined as progression, death, or receipt of chemotherapy for residual or progressive disease. Secondary endpoints include PFS in patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL), complete remission rate, overall survival and objective response rate, in addition to safety.
The multi-center trial was conducted at sites across North America, Europe and Asia and was designed to enroll 450 patients, approximately 75 percent of whom were to be diagnosed with sALCL.
The ECHELON-2 trial is being conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the trial also received European Medicines Agency (EMA) scientific advice.
Source: Company Press Release