Puma Biotechnology Announces U.S. FDA Acceptance of Supplemental New Drug Application for Neratinib to Treat HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

On September 11, 2019 Puma Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI), a biopharmaceutical company, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for neratinib in combination with capecitabine for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have failed two or more prior lines of HER2-directed therapy (third-line disease) (Press release, Puma Biotechnology, SEP 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234539435]). The FDA has informed the Company that it is not currently planning to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss this application. The FDA confirmed that the review will have an action date of late April, 2020.

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"The FDA’s acceptance of our sNDA marks another important regulatory milestone for my team," said Alan H. Auerbach, Chief Executive Officer and President of Puma. "We look forward to working with the FDA during its review of this submission, which targets patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who have progressed on two or more prior treatments and who need additional treatment options."

Neratinib was originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July 2017 for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early stage HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer following adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy and is marketed in the United States as NERLYNX tablets. In September 2018 NERLYNX was granted marketing authorization by the European Commission for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early stage hormone receptor-positive HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer and who are less than one year from completion of prior adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy.

The sNDA is supported by the results of the Phase III NALA trial, a randomized controlled trial of neratinib plus capecitabine versus Tykerb (lapatinib) plus capecitabine in patients with third-line HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

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.

About NALA

The NALA trial is a randomized controlled Phase III trial of neratinib plus capecitabine versus Tykerb (lapatinib) plus capecitabine in patients with third-line HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The trial enrolled 621 patients who were randomized (1:1) to receive either neratinib plus capecitabine or lapatinib plus capecitabine. The trial was conducted globally at sites in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and South America. The co-primary endpoints of the trial are centrally confirmed progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). An alpha level of 1% was allocated to the PFS and 4% allocated to OS. The study was to be considered positive if either of the co-primary endpoints was positive. Puma reached agreement with the FDA under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the design of the Phase III clinical trial and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) also provided follow-on scientific advice (SA) consistent with that of the FDA regarding the Company’s Phase III trial design and endpoints used in the trial.