On December 2, 2019 Seattle Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGEN) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas"), reported a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada through a subsidiary, to evaluate the combination of Seattle Genetics’ and Astellas’ antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) enfortumab vedotin and Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), in patients with previously untreated metastatic urothelial cancer (Press release, Astellas, DEC 2, 2019, View Source [SID1234551809]).

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Under the terms of the agreement, the three companies will conduct and fund a global, registrational phase 3 clinical trial to be led by Seattle Genetics. The trial will be designed to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab in patients with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. The companies are working in consultation with regulatory authorities to finalize the trial design and currently plan to initiate the trial in the first half of 2020.

"We look forward to initiating a randomized phase 3 trial in patients with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer," said Roger Dansey, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Seattle Genetics. "Recent data from a phase 1b trial of enfortumab vedotin in combination with pembrolizumab showed evidence of clinical activity leading to the development of this phase 3 trial."

"An unmet medical need exists for previously untreated patients with metastatic urothelial cancer, and we are committed to studying enfortumab vedotin in combination with other agents in different stages of urothelial cancer," said Andrew Krivoshik, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Oncology Therapeutic Area Head at Astellas. "We look forward to further evaluating enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab in this high unmet need patient population."

Enfortumab vedotin is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have received a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and who have received a platinum-containing chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant/adjuvant, locally advanced or metastatic setting. The PDUFA action date is March 15, 2020.

KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.

About Urothelial Cancer
Urothelial cancer is the most common type of bladder cancer (90 percent of cases).1 In 2019, more than 80,000 people will be diagnosed with bladder cancer in the United States. Globally, approximately 549,000 people were diagnosed with bladder cancer last year, and there were approximately 200,000 deaths worldwide.2

About Enfortumab Vedotin
Enfortumab vedotin is an investigational ADC composed of an anti-Nectin-4 monoclonal antibody attached to a microtubule-disrupting agent, MMAE, using Seattle Genetics’ proprietary linker technology. Enfortumab vedotin targets Nectin-4, a cell adhesion molecule that is expressed on many solid tumors, and that has been identified as an ADC target by Astellas.

The safety and efficacy of enfortumab vedotin are under investigation and have not been established. There is no guarantee that the agent will receive regulatory approval or become commercially available for the uses being investigated.

On December 2, 2019 Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI), a biopharmaceutical company, and Pierre Fabre reported that they have agreed to extend the terms of the license agreement in which Puma granted Pierre Fabre exclusive rights to develop and commercialize NERLYNX (neratinib) within Europe and part of Africa (Press release, Puma Biotechnology, DEC 2, 2019, View Source [SID1234551808]). The amended agreement extends Pierre Fabre’s commercial rights for NERLYNX to the Middle East, South Africa, Sudan and Turkey.

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Under the terms of the agreement, Puma will receive an upfront payment of $4 million, as well as additional regulatory and sales-based milestone payments totaling up to $3 million. Net sales of NERLYNX from the countries in this extension territory will be included in the calculation of payments related to sales milestones and royalties from the original license agreement signed earlier this year.

"The expansion of our license agreement with Pierre Fabre is indicative of our belief in their robust commercial infrastructure across these additional territories," said Alan H. Auerbach, Chief Executive Officer and President of Puma. "Puma remains committed to providing access to NERLYNX to patients around the world. By expanding Pierre Fabre’s commercial territory, we believe HER-2 positive breast cancer patients in these territories will have access to this much-needed therapy."

"We are pleased to confirm this expanded partnership with Puma Biotechnology," stated Jean-Luc Lowinski, Chief Executive Officer, Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals. "It will bring NERLYNX to patients seeking adjuvant treatment options for breast cancer in these new countries where Pierre Fabre is committed to making a difference in the long term."

About HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Approximately 20 to 25 percent of breast cancer tumors over-express the HER2 protein. HER2-positive breast cancer is often more aggressive than other types of breast cancer, increasing the risk of disease progression and death. Although research has shown that trastuzumab can reduce the risk of early stage HER2-positive breast cancer returning after surgery, up to 25% of patients treated with trastuzumab experience recurrence.

On December 1, 2019 Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent" or "the Company") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune, metabolic and other major diseases, reported that the new drug application ("NDA") submitted by Incyte to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for pemigatinib in previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements has been accepted for Priority Review by FDA (Press release, Innovent Biologics, DEC 1, 2019, View Source [SID1234551850]).

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In December 2018, Innovent and Incyte entered into a strategic collaboration for three clinical-stage product candidates discovered and developed by Incyte, including pemigatinib (FGFR1/2/3 inhibitor), itacitinib (JAK1 inhibitor) and parsaclisib (PI3Kδ inhibitor). Under the terms of the agreement, Innovent has received the rights to develop and commercialize the three assets in hematology and oncology in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. IND approvals for all three assets were granted by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in November 2019.

The NDA submission is based on data from Incyte’s FIGHT-202 study evaluating pemigatinib as a treatment for patients with previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma. Study results, recently presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology ("ESMO") 2019 Congress, demonstrated that in patients harboring FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements (Cohort A), pemigatinib monotherapy resulted in an overall response rate ("ORR") of 36 percent (primary endpoint), and median duration of response ("DOR") of 7.5 months (secondary endpoint) with a median follow-up of 15 months. Adverse events were manageable and consistent with the mechanism of action of pemigatinib.

The FDA grants Priority Review to medicines that may offer a major advance in treatment where none currently exists. This designation shortens the review period to eight months compared to 12 months for Standard Review. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act ("PDUFA") target action date is May 30, 2020.

Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare cancer that forms in the bile duct. It is classified based on its origin: intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma ("iCCA") occurs in the bile duct inside the liver and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma occurs in the bile duct outside the liver. Patients with cholangiocarcinoma are often diagnosed at a late or advanced stage when the prognosis is poor. The incidence of cholangiocarcinoma varies regionally and ranges between 0.3 – 3.4 per 100,000 in North America and Europe. FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements occur almost exclusively in iCCA, where they are observed in 10-16 percent of patients.

About FIGHT-202

The FIGHT-202 Phase 2, open-label, multicenter study (NCT02924376) is evaluating the safety and efficacy of pemigatinib–a selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor–in adult (age ≥ 18 years) patients with previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with documented FGF/FGFR status.

Patients were enrolled into one of three cohorts – Cohort A (FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements), Cohort B (other FGF/FGFR genetic alterations) or Cohort C (no FGF/FGFR genetic alterations). All patients received 13.5 mg pemigatinib orally once daily (QD) on a 21-day cycle (two weeks on/one week off) until radiological disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

The primary endpoint of FIGHT-202 is ORR in Cohort A, assessed by independent review per RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints include ORR in Cohorts B, A plus B, and C; progression free survival ("PFS"), overall survival ("OS"), duration of response ("DOR"), disease control rate ("DCR") and safety in all cohorts.

For more information about the Incyte-sponsored FIGHT-202 study, visit View Source

About FIGHT

Incyte’s FIGHT (FIbroblast Growth factor receptor in oncology and Hematology Trials) clinical trial program includes ongoing Phase 2 and 3 studies investigating safety and efficacy of pemigatinib therapy across several FGFR-driven malignancies. Phase 2 monotherapy studies include FIGHT-202, as well as FIGHT-201 investigating pemigatinib in patients with metastatic or surgically unresectable bladder cancer, including with activating FGFR3 mutations or fusions/rearrangements; FIGHT-203 in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms with activating FGFR1 fusions/rearrangements; FIGHT-207 in patients with previously treated, locally-advanced/metastatic or surgically unresectable solid tumor malignancies harboring activating FGFR mutations or fusions/rearrangements, irrespective of tumor type. FIGHT-205 is a Phase 2 study investigating pemigatinib plus pembrolizumab combination therapy and pemigatinib monotherapy in patients with previously untreated, metastatic or unresectable bladder cancer harboring FGFR3 mutations or fusions/rearrangements who are not eligible to receive cisplatin. FIGHT-302 is a recently initiated Phase 3 study investigating pemigatinib as a first-line treatment for patients with cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements.

About FGFR and Pemigatinib

Fibroblast growth factor receptors ("FGFRs") play an important role in tumor cell proliferation and survival, migration and angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels). Activating fusions, rearrangements, translocations and gene amplifications in FGFRs are closely correlated with the development of various cancers.

Pemigatinib is a potent, selective, oral inhibitor of FGFR isoforms 1, 2 and 3 which, in preclinical studies, has demonstrated selective pharmacologic activity against cancer cells with FGFR alterations. The U.S. FDA has granted pemigatinib Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of previously treated, advanced/metastatic or unresectable FGFR2 translocated cholangiocarcinoma. The FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy designation is designed to expedite the development and review of drugs for serious conditions that have shown encouraging early clinical results and may demonstrate substantial improvements over available medicines. Additionally, the FDA granted pemigatinib Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma, a designation granted to investigational compounds intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people.