Despite being very effective and widely used, radiation oncology treatment still suffers from a lack of collective knowledge on how some treatments affects patients’ functioning, symptoms and quality of life, and how best to optimise their effectiveness (Press release, EORTC, APR 23, 2018, View Source [SID1234525569]). Such information is available through the outcome of clinical trials, but formal data-sharing is rather haphazard, particularly where new treatments are involved. With the advent of personalised cancer medicine, this means that patients may not always receive the most effective treatment in their particular case. In a bid to put this situation to rights, the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) have joined forces to launch a new initiative, E2-RADIatE (EORTC-ESTRO Radiation Infrastructure for Europe). The project will be presented for the first time at the ESTRO 37 conference, which starts today (Friday).

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The initiative aims to put in place a pan-European infrastructure for a more efficient framework across the field of radiation oncology by encouraging collaboration that will also involve other oncology disciplines, in order to generate robust data on its role in cancer treatment and to further develop and integrate the discipline into therapeutic strategies. "We believe that, through E2-RADIatE, we will be able to improve the efficiency of research projects, both in their take-up and conduct, and offer effective pan-European models to research partners," says EORTC President, Professor Bertrand Tombal, Chairman of the Division of Urology and Professor of Urology at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.

E2-RADIatE will commence activity with two innovative projects. OligoCare will collect evidence for best practice in the treatment of oligometastases, where the primary cancer has spread (metastasised) to only a limited number of regions. Patients in this state have a good chance of survival if the metastases can be ablated, but evidence on how best to do this is lacking. Additionally, there is the problem of selecting which patient is most likely to benefit from which treatment. "These questions are unlikely to be answered within the traditional framework of prospective randomised trials because the situation of oligometastasis is diverse on so many fronts" says ESTRO President Professor Yolande Lievens, head of the department of radiation oncology at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium.

The proton therapy project aims to provide an effective data-sharing platform for particle therapy treatments. This is a rapidly developing technology with considerable potential in the treatment of cancer. But national healthcare providers face budget restrictions and, as a consequence, health technology assessment authorities are requiring more and more evidence of its effectiveness. E2-RADIatE aims to recruit all patients treated in proton therapy centres throughout Europe to provide this through, for example, a Europe-wide assessment of whether proton therapy leads to less clinical toxicity in treated patients. It is expected to be up and running in one year with approximately 2000 patients recruited in five years.

The partners believe that the outcomes of these projects, together with further initiatives to be undertaken by E2-RADIatE, will improve not only the health of patients, but also the competitiveness of EU radiation and multidisciplinary oncology. "They will create a significant critical mass that we believe will be influential at all levels of clinical research, regulation, and healthcare systems," says EORTC Director General Dr Denis Lacombe.

On April 23, 2018 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) reported that the European Commission has approved MYLOTARG (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) in combination with daunorubicin and cytarabine for the treatment of patients age 15 years and above with previously untreated, de novo, CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), except acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) (Press release, Pfizer, APR 23, 2018, View Source [SID1234525590]). MYLOTARG is the first and only AML therapy approved in the European Union (EU) that targets CD33, an antigen expressed on AML cells in up to 90% of patients.1,2,3

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"The marketing authorization of MYLOTARG provides a much-needed treatment option offering renewed hope for many acute myeloid leukemia patients in Europe," said Andreas Penk, M.D., regional president, Pfizer Oncology. "In clinical trials, the addition of MYLOTARG to standard chemotherapy resulted in deeper, more durable remission, thus providing an additional treatment option with the potential to prevent relapse for these patients."

AML is a rapidly progressing, life-threatening blood and bone marrow cancer.4 If left untreated, patients with AML will die within months, if not weeks, of their disease. AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults and accounts for approximately 80% of all cases of acute leukemia.5About 16,800 people are expected to be newly diagnosed with AML in Europe annually.6 The goal of AML treatment is for the patient to achieve a complete, prolonged remission. Longer periods of remission prior to relapse are associated with better long-term outcomes for patients. Thus, medicines that delay the time until the disease comes back and extend life can provide meaningful clinical benefit.

"I am thrilled that MYLOTARG will be available soon in Europe as a first-line treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia," said Doctor Sylvie Castaigne, Professeur des Universités, Université de Versailles – Saint Quentin, Praticien Hospitalier, Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, and lead investigator of the ALFA-0701 study. "This important milestone is a result of close collaboration between Pfizer and clinical investigators around the world, particularly the ALFA investigators in France, who believed in the promise of this therapy. We thank all of the investigators, nurses and patients who participated in these studies."

The European Commission’s approval of MYLOTARG was based on data from an investigator-led, Phase 3 randomized, open-label study (ALFA-0701) in previously untreated, de novo patients. MYLOTARG received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2017 for adults with newly diagnosed CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and adults and children 2 years and older with relapsed or refractory CD33-positive AML.

Pfizer is advancing a broad range of therapies that leverage multiple pathways and mechanisms of action (MOAs) to address acute and chronic leukemias, myeloproliferative disorders and lymphomas. Pfizer currently has four marketed therapies for hematologic cancers worldwide as well as several therapies in clinical development. Pfizer is also forging collaborations with a diversity of industry, academic and community partners to study multiple paths to advancing treatment. By working together, Pfizer and its partners aim to overcome the challenges of hematologic cancers and deliver meaningful benefits to patients.

Indication for MYLOTARG (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) in the EU

MYLOTARG is approved in combination with daunorubicin and cytarabine for the treatment of patients age 15 and above with previously untreated, de novo, CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), except acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

IMPORTANT MYLOTARG (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) SAFETY INFORMATION in the EU

The overall safety profile of MYLOTARG is based on data from patients with acute myeloid leukemia from the combination therapy study ALFA-0701, monotherapy studies, and from post-marketing experience.

Hepatotoxicity, including life-threatening, and sometimes fatal hepatic failure and VOD/SOS have been reported in patients treated with MYLOTARG. Other special warnings and precautions include myelosuppression and infusion-related reactions.

In the combination therapy study ALFA-0701, clinically relevant serious adverse reactions were hepatotoxicity, including VOD/SOS (3.8%), hemorrhage (9.9%), severe infection (41.2%), and tumour lysis syndrome (1.5%). In monotherapy studies, clinically relevant serious adverse reactions also included infusion related reactions (2.5%), thrombocytopenia (21.7%), and neutropenia (34.3%).

The most common adverse reactions (> 30%) in the combination therapy study were hemorrhage and infection. In monotherapy studies the most common adverse reactions (> 30%) included pyrexia, nausea, infection, chills, hemorrhage, vomiting, thrombocytopenia, fatigue, headache, stomatitis, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and neutropenia.

The most frequent (≥ 1%) adverse reactions that led to permanent discontinuation in the combination therapy study were thrombocytopenia, VOD, hemorrhage and infection. The most frequent (≥ 1%) adverse reactions that led to permanent discontinuation in monotherapy studies were infection, hemorrhage, multi-organ failure, and VOD.

The EU Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) will be available at View Source

About MYLOTARG (gemtuzumab ozogamicin)

MYLOTARG is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) composed of the cytotoxic agent calicheamicin, attached to a monoclonal antibody (mAB) targeting CD33, an antigen expressed on the surface of myeloblasts in up to 90 percent of AML patients.1,2,3When MYLOTARG binds to the CD33 antigen on the cell surface it is absorbed into the cell and calicheamicin is released causing cell death.2,3

MYLOTARG was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2017 for adults with newly diagnosed CD33-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and adults and children 2 years and older with relapsed or refractory CD33-positive AML.

MYLOTARG originates from a collaboration between Pfizer and Celltech, now UCB. Pfizer has sole responsibility for all manufacturing, clinical development and commercialization activities for this molecule.

Pfizer also collaborated with SFJ Pharmaceuticals Group on the registrational program for MYLOTARG.

On April 23, 2018 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) reported that it received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to the Biologics License Application for the company’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar (Press release, Pfizer, APR 23, 2018, View Source [SID1234525591]). In the CRL, the FDA highlighted the need for additional technical information. The additional requested information does not relate to safety or clinical data submitted in the application. Pfizer is working closely with the FDA to address the contents of the letter and remains committed to bringing this important medicine to patients in the U.S.

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Pfizer believes that biosimilars are critically important to the future of cancer care, with the potential to increase patient access to life-changing therapies that will help address the evolving needs of healthcare systems, patients, physicians and payers.

Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world’s best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer_News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

DISCLOSURE NOTICE: The information contained in this release is as of April 23, 2018. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.

This release contains forward-looking information about Pfizer’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar, including its potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated trial commencement and completion dates and regulatory submission dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable clinical trial results, including unfavorable new clinical data and additional analyses of existing clinical data; uncertainties regarding the company’s ability to address the comments in the complete response letter to the satisfaction of the FDA; whether and when any applications for Pfizer’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar may be filed with regulatory authorities in any other jurisdictions; whether and when the FDA may approve the biologics license application for Pfizer’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar and whether and when regulatory authorities in any other jurisdictions may approve any such other applications that are pending or that may be filed for Pfizer’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar, which will depend on the assessment by such regulatory authorities of the benefit-risk profile suggested by the totality of the efficacy and safety information submitted and, if approved, whether Pfizer’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar will be commercially successful; intellectual property and/or litigation implications; decisions by regulatory authorities regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Pfizer’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar ; and competitive developments.

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, including in the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results", as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.

On April 23, 2018 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) reported taht it will webcast management presentations as follows (Press release, Regeneron, APR 23, 2018, View Source [SID1234525592]):

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J.P. Morgan 2018 Spring Biotech Conference Call Series at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2018 Healthcare Conference at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time (11:00 a.m. Eastern Time) on Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Barclays 2018 Biopharmaceuticals CEO/CFO Conference Call Series at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, June 1, 2018
The sessions may be accessed from the "Investors & Media" page of Regeneron’s website at View Source Replays of the conference calls and webcasts will be archived on the Company’s website and will be available for 30 days.

On April 23, 2018 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) reported that it will release its first quarter 2018 financial results on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at 7:00 a.m. ET (Press release, Teva, APR 23, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2343903 [SID1234525573]).

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Teva will host a conference call and live webcast on the same day, at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss its first quarter 2018 results and overall business environment. A Question & Answer session will follow this discussion.

In order to participate, please dial the following numbers (at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time):

United States 1-866-254-0808
International 44 (0) 1452 541003
for a list of other international toll-free numbers, click here.
Passcode: 9496209
A live webcast of the call will also be available on Teva’s website at: ir.tevapharm.com Please log in at least 10 minutes prior to the conference call in order to download the applicable audio software.

Following the conclusion of the call, a replay of the webcast will be available within 24 hours on the Company’s website. The replay can also be accessed until May 31, 2018, 9:00 a.m. ET by calling United States 1-866-247-4222 or International 44(0)1452550000; passcode: 9496209