Monday, May 9, 2016

Novartis receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation for PKC412 (midostaurin)

Midostaurin skeletal.svg

Novartis announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to PKC412 (midostaurin). PKC412 (midostaurin) is an investigational treatment for adults with newly-diagnosed AML who are FLT3 mutation-positive, as detected by an FDA-approved test, and who are eligible to receive standard induction and consolidation chemotherapy.

The Breakthrough Therapy designation for PKC412 (midostaurin) is primarily based upon the positive results from the Phase III RATIFY (CALGB 10603) clinical trial. This study was conducted in partnership with the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and presented during a plenary session at the 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting.
Patients who received PKC412 (midostaurin) and standard induction and consolidation chemotherapy experienced a significant improvement in overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio = 0.77, P = 0.0074) compared to those who received standard induction and consolidation chemotherapy alone. The median OS for patients in the PKC412 (midostaurin) treatment group was 74.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 31.7, not attained), versus 25.6 months (95% CI: 18.6, 42.9) for patients in the placebo group. No statistically significant differences were observed in the overall rate of grade 3 or higher hematologic and non-hematologic adverse events in the PKC412 (midostaurin) treatment group versus the placebo group. A total of 37 deaths were reported, with no difference in treatment-related deaths observed between groups.

"For more than 25 years, medical developments have been limited for AML patients and the chemotherapy treatment strategy has essentially remained unchanged," said Alessandro Riva, MD, Global Head, Novartis Oncology Development and Medical Affairs. "We look forward to working closely with the FDA to bring PKC412 (midostaurin), the first potential AML targeted therapy, to patients as quickly as possible."

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