Approval marks the first all-oral, once-daily, fixed-duration Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor-based regimen for first-line treatment of CLL
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced today that the European Commission granted marketing authorisation for the expanded use of IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib) in an all-oral, fixed-duration (FD) treatment combination with venetoclax (I+V) for adults with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). The approval is based on the pivotal Phase 3 GLOW study that demonstrated superior progression-free survival (PFS) in patients treated with I+V versus chlorambucil-obinutuzumab (Clb+O), and the FD cohort of the Phase 2 CAPTIVATE study, which showed deep and durable responses in patients treated with I+V, including those with high-risk features.[1],[2]
“Developing innovative therapies remains vitally important in CLL, to ensure we have the option and ability to best tailor treatment to meet individual patient needs and preferences,” said Edmond Chan, MBChB, M.D. (Res), EMEA Therapeutic Area Lead Haematology, Janssen-Cilag Limited. “Over the past 11 years, the efficacy and safety profile of ibrutinib has been established in clinical trials and real-world settings. With this approval, healthcare professionals will now have the flexibility to use ibrutinib either in a fixed-duration combination with venetoclax or as a continuous monotherapy in first-line CLL.”
In Europe, ibrutinib is already approved as a continuous therapy in several indications across three blood cancers (CLL, mantle cell lymphoma and Waldenström’s macroglobulinaemia).[3] In CLL, patient outcomes have improved over the last decade.[4] A wave of innovation, including the advent of novel oral therapies that target the underlying disease biology, has shifted the standard of care from chemoimmunotherapy to targeted agents and combination therapies.[4] Unmet needs remain, including time-limited combinations of targeted therapies that provide durable remissions and the flexibility to better tailor first-line therapy.[1]
“The distinct and complementary mechanisms of action of ibrutinib and venetoclax, and the potential of this combination regimen to provide treatment-free remissions, mark important progress for how we approach first-line CLL therapy,” said Arnon Kater†, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Head of Haematology, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, University of Amsterdam and Chairman of the HOVON CLL Working Group, the Netherlands and GLOW principal study investigator. “These highly active blood cancer treatments not only combine to deliver superior progression-free survival versus chlorambucil plus obinutuzumab, but also demonstrate robust disease clearance in lymphoid tissue, blood and bone marrow, and early sustainability of those responses after stopping treatment.”
The EC approval is supported by data from the pivotal Phase 3 GLOW study (NCT03462719), which demonstrated that I+V was superior to Clb+O with respect to the primary endpoint, PFS assessed by an independent review committee, in elderly or unfit patients with CLL (PFS hazard ratio [HR]: 0.216; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.131 to 0.357; P<0.001).[1] The improvement in PFS with I+V was consistent across predefined subgroups, including older patients and those with comorbidities and high-risk features.[1] It is also supported by the FD cohort of the Phase 2 CAPTIVATE study (NCT02910583) which evaluated I+V in patients with previously untreated CLL who were 70 years or younger, including patients with high-risk CLL disease.[2]
About Ibrutinib
Ibrutinib is a once-daily oral medication that is jointly developed and commercialised by Janssen Biotech, Inc. and Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie company.[3] Ibrutinib blocks the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) protein, which is needed by normal and abnormal B-cells, including specific cancer cells, to multiply and spread.[5] By blocking BTK, ibrutinib may help move abnormal B-cells out of their nourishing environments and inhibits their proliferation.[6]
Ibrutinib is approved in more than 100 countries and has been used to treat more than 250,000 patients worldwide.[7] There are more than 50 company-sponsored clinical trials, including 18 Phase 3 studies, over 11 years evaluating the efficacy and safety of ibrutinib.[3],[8] In October 2021, ibrutinib was added to the World Health Organization’s Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML), which refers to medicines that address global health priorities and which should be available and affordable for all.[9]
About the CAPTIVATE study
The Phase 2 CAPTIVATE study evaluated previously untreated adult patients with CLL who were 70 years or younger, including patients with high-risk disease, in two cohorts: an MRD-guided cohort (N=164; median age, 58 years) and a fixed-duration cohort (N=159; median age, 60 years).[10] Patients in the fixed-duration cohort received 3 cycles of ibrutinib lead-in followed by 12 cycles of I+V (oral ibrutinib [420 mg/d]; oral venetoclax [5-week ramp-up to 400 mg/d]) and the primary endpoint was complete response (CR) rate.[2]
About Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is typically a slow-growing blood cancer of the white blood cells.[11] The overall incidence of CLL in Europe is approximately 4.92 cases per 100,000 persons per year and is about 1.5 times more common in men than in women.[12] CLL is predominantly a disease of the elderly, with a median age of 72 years at diagnosis.[13]
While patient outcomes have dramatically improved in the last few decades, the disease is still characterised by consecutive episodes of disease progression and the need for therapy.[4] Patients are often prescribed multiple lines of therapy as they relapse or become resistant to treatments.[14]
About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson
At Janssen, we’re creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We’re the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular, Metabolism & Retina; Immunology; Infectious Diseases & Vaccines; Neuroscience; Oncology; and Pulmonary Hypertension.
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