FDA Approves Second Biomarker-Based Indication for Merck?s KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), Regardless of Tumor Type
JUNE 17, 2020
KEYTRUDA Is Now Approved for Adult and Pediatric Patients with Unresectable or Metastatic Tumor Mutational Burden-High (TMB-H) [=10 Mutations/Megabase] Solid Tumors, as Determined by an FDA-Approved Test, That Have Progressed Following Prior Treatment and Who Have No Satisfactory Alternative Treatment Options
KEYTRUDA Is the First Checkpoint Inhibitor Approved for These Patients with TMB-H Solid Tumors
KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved KEYTRUDA, Merck?s anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic tumor mutational burden-high (TMB-H) [=10 mutations/megabase (mut/Mb)] solid tumors, as determined by an FDA-approved test, that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. The safety and effectiveness of KEYTRUDA in pediatric patients with TMB-H central nervous system cancers have not been established. Immune-mediated adverse reactions, which may be severe or fatal, can occur with KEYTRUDA, including pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis, endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction, severe skin reactions, solid organ transplant rejection, and complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Based on the severity of the adverse reaction, KEYTRUDA should be withheld or discontinued and corticosteroids administered if appropriate. KEYTRUDA can also cause severe or life-threatening infusion-related reactions. Based on its mechanism of action, KEYTRUDA can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. For more information, see ?Selected Important Safety Information? below. ?For the second time, KEYTRUDA monotherapy is now approved based on a biomarker rather than the location in the body where the tumor originated,? said Dr. Scot Ebbinghaus, vice president, clinical research, Merck Research Laboratories. ?TMB-H, defined as 10 mutations per megabase or more, can help identify patients most likely to benefit from KEYTRUDA. We?re pleased that our collaborative efforts to advance biomarker research have resulted in our ability to provide a new treatment option that addresses a high unmet medical need for these patients with cancer.? ?As physicians, we are always looking to find new options for patients, especially in the second-line or higher treatment setting,? said Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., ensign professor of medicine (medical oncology) and professor of pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine; chief of medical oncology, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital; and associate cancer center director for translational research, Yale Cancer Center. ?It?s great to see the use of innovative biomarkers and immunotherapy come together with this approval and encouraging that we now have an option for patients with TMB-H tumors across cancer types, including rare cancers.? The FDA also approved FoundationOne??CDx test as the companion diagnostic to identify patients with solid tumors that are TMB-H (=10 mutations/ megabase) who may benefit from immunotherapy treatment with KEYTRUDA monotherapy. ?These approvals stem from years of research into how TMB levels may influence a patient?s response to immunotherapy,? said Brian Alexander, M.D., M.P.H., chief medical officer, Foundation Medicine. ?It?s critical that healthcare professionals have access to a validated genomic test to measure TMB in clinical tumor assessments and pinpoint those who are more likely to respond. We?re proud to be collaborating with Merck to help match appropriate patients to this important treatment.? Data Supporting the Approval The accelerated approval was based on data from a prospectively-planned retrospective analysis of 10 cohorts (A through J) of patients with various previously treated unresectable or metastatic solid tumors with TMB-H, who were enrolled in KEYNOTE-158 (NCT02628067), a multicenter, non-randomized, open-label trial evaluating KEYTRUDA (200 mg every three weeks). The trial excluded patients who previously received an anti-PD-1 or other immune-modulating monoclonal antibody, or who had an autoimmune disease, or a medical condition that required immunosuppression. TMB status was assessed using the FoundationOne CDx assay and pre-specified cutpoints of =10 and =13 mut/Mb, and testing was blinded with respect to clinical outcomes. Tumor response was assessed every nine weeks for the first 12 months and every 12 weeks thereafter. The major efficacy outcome measures were objective response rate (ORR) and duration of response (DOR) in the patients who received at least one dose of KEYTRUDA as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR) according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1, modified to follow a maximum of 10 target lesions and a maximum of five target lesions per organ. In KEYNOTE-158, 1,050 patients were included in the efficacy analysis population. TMB was analyzed in the subset of 790 patients with sufficient tissue for testing based on protocol-specified testing requirements. Of the 790 patients, 102 (13%) had tumors identified as TMB-H, defined as TMB =10 mut/Mb. The study population characteristics of these 102 patients were: median age of 61 years (range, 27 to 80); 34% age 65 or older; 34% male; 81% White; and 41% Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status (PS) of 0 and 58% ECOG PS of 1. Fifty-six percent of patients had at least two prior lines of therapy. In the 102 patients whose tumors were TMB-H, KEYTRUDA demonstrated an ORR of 29% (95% CI, 21-39), with a complete response rate of 4% and a partial response rate of 25%. After a median follow-up time of 11.1 months, the median DOR had not been reached (range, 2.2+ to 34.8+ months). Among the 30 responding patients, 57% had ongoing responses of 12 months or longer, and 50% had ongoing responses of 24 months or longer. In a pre-specified analysis of patients with TMB =13 mut/Mb (n=70), KEYTRUDA demonstrated an ORR of 37% (95% CI, 26-50), with a complete response rate of 3% and a partial response rate of 34%. After a median follow-up time of 11.1 months, the median DOR had not been reached (range, 2.2+ to 34.8+ months). Among the 26 responding patients, 58% had ongoing responses of 12 months or longer, and 50% had ongoing responses of 24 months or longer. In an exploratory analysis in 32 patients whose cancer had TMB =10 mut/Mb and <13 mut/Mb, the ORR was 13% (95% CI, 4-29), including two complete responses and two partial responses. The median duration of exposure to KEYTRUDA was 4.9 months (range, 0.03 to 35.2 months). The most common adverse reactions for KEYTRUDA (reported in =20% of patients) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, decreased appetite, pruritus, diarrhea, nausea, rash, pyrexia, cough, dyspnea, constipation, pain and abdominal pain. About KEYTRUDA??(pembrolizumab) Injection, 100 mg KEYTRUDA is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body?s immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. KEYTRUDA is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating T lymphocytes which may affect both tumor cells and healthy cells. Merck has the industry?s largest immuno-oncology clinical research program. There are currently more than 1,200 trials studying KEYTRUDA across a wide variety of cancers and treatment settings. The KEYTRUDA clinical program seeks to understand the role of KEYTRUDA across cancers and the factors that may predict a patient's likelihood of benefitting from treatment with KEYTRUDA, including exploring several different biomarkers. Selected KEYTRUDA??(pembrolizumab) Indications Melanoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. KEYTRUDA is indicated for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with involvement of lymph node(s) following complete resection. Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer KEYTRUDA, in combination with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations. KEYTRUDA, in combination with carboplatin and either paclitaxel or paclitaxel protein-bound, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic squamous NSCLC. KEYTRUDA, as a single agent, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with NSCLC expressing PD-L1 [tumor proportion score (TPS) =1%] as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations, and is stage III where patients are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or metastatic. KEYTRUDA, as a single agent, is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors express PD-L1 (TPS =1%) as determined by an FDA-approved test, with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving KEYTRUDA. Small Cell Lung Cancer KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least 1 other prior line of therapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer KEYTRUDA, in combination with platinum and fluorouracil (FU), is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or with unresectable, recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). KEYTRUDA, as a single agent, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or with unresectable, recurrent HNSCC whose tumors express PD-L1 [combined positive score (CPS) =1] as determined by an FDA-approved test. KEYTRUDA, as a single agent, is indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL), or who have relapsed after 3 or more prior lines of therapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials. Primary Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL), or who have relapsed after 2 or more prior lines of therapy. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. KEYTRUDA is not recommended for treatment of patients with PMBCL who require urgent cytoreductive therapy. Urothelial Carcinoma KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and whose tumors express PD-L1 [combined positive score (CPS) =10], as determined by an FDA-approved test, or in patients who are not eligible for any platinum-containing chemotherapy regardless of PD-L1 status. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-unresponsive, high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary tumors who are ineligible for or have elected not to undergo cystectomy. Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) Cancer KEYTRUDA is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR)- solid tumors that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options, or
- colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
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