Endocyte, Merck Treatment Moves Forward
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA potential treatment for a certain type of ovarian cancer from West Lafayette-based Endocyte Inc. (Nasdaq: ECYT) and Merck and Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) has received a positive opinion from a European health committee. The companies say the European Commission could grant final approval within three months.
March 21, 2014
News Release
West Lafayette, Ind. — Merck (MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Endocyte, Inc. (ECYT), today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has issued positive opinions for the Conditional Marketing Authorisations of VYNFINIT (vintafolide) and companion imaging components, imaging agent FOLCEPRI (etarfolatide), and NEOCEPRI (intravenous (IV) folic acid), for the treatment of adult patients with folate receptor-positive, platinum-resistant, ovarian cancer, in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD).
“These positive CHMP opinions bring Merck and Endocyte one step closer to providing a personalized approach to address a significant unmet medical need in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer,” said Dr. Eric Rubin, vice president, Clinical Development for Oncology, Merck Research Laboratories. “We want to acknowledge our colleagues at Endocyte for their pioneering work in this field, and look forward to the European Commission completing their review of the applications.”
“Vintafolide is a folate receptor targeted agent, and if approved, would be the first oncology therapeutic to employ an imaging agent as a companion diagnostic for patient selection,” said Ron Ellis, Endocyte's president and CEO. “Today's positive CHMP opinions are an important step toward personalizing ovarian cancer management for appropriate patients, and validate our Company’s focus on the development of targeted medicines and companion imaging agents designed to improve patient outcomes.”
Vintafolide is proposed for use in combination with PLD for the treatment of adult patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer who express the folate receptor on all target lesions. Folate receptor status should be assessed by a diagnostic medicinal product approved for the selection of adult patients for treatment with vintafolide, using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging, in combination with Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
Etarfolatide and IV folic acid are medicinal products proposed for diagnostic use only. Etarfolatide, following radiolabelling with sodium pertechnetate (99mTc) solution, is proposed for SPECT imaging in combination with CT or MRI, for the selection of adult patients for treatment with vintafolide. Intravenous folic acid would be administrated prior to 99mTc-etarfolatide for the enhancement of SPECT image quality.
The applications for Conditional Marketing Authorisation for vintafolide, etarfolatide and IV folic acid were submitted based on results in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients who express the folate receptor on all target lesions as evaluated in the PRECEDENT Phase 2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00722592).
The CHMP positive opinions will be reviewed by the European Commission (EC). If approved, the EC grants a centralized marketing authorization with unified labeling that is valid in the 28 countries that are members of the European Union, as well as European Economic Area members Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The EC usually issues a final legally binding decision within three months of a CHMP opinion.
About vintafolide, etarfolatide and IV folic acid
Vintafolide is an investigational conjugate of folic acid (vitamin B9) linked to an anti-cancer agent, the potent vinca alkaloid desacetylvinblastine hydrazide (DAVLBH). Since cancer cells generally consume higher levels of folate than normal cells to fuel their growth, some cancer cell types – including ovarian – have high concentrations of the folate receptor on their surface. Vintafolide is designed to selectively target the folate receptor to deliver the anti-cancer agent to the cancerous tissue. Tumors that have high concentrations of the folate receptor are identified by etarfolatide, a non-invasive imaging diagnostic agent. Intravenous folic acid is used with 99mTc-etarfolatide for the enhancement of image quality.
Vintafolide, etarfolatide and IV folic acid have been granted orphan drug status by the EMA. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also granted orphan drug status to vintafolide and etarfolatide. Further evaluation is ongoing in the global PROCEED Phase 3 clinical trial in folate receptor-positive (FR 100%), platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01170650). The randomized TARGET Phase 2b study of vintafolide in non-small cell lung cancer has completed enrollment (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01577654), and a Phase 2 study in triple-negative breast cancer is expected to be initiated in Q2 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01953536).
About Folate Receptor-Positive Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
In 2012, it was estimated that there would be over 40,000 new cases of ovarian cancer in the European Union. Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal cancers of the female reproductive system. Overall, approximately 80 percent of patients relapse after first-line, platinum-based, chemotherapy. Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, also known as PROC, is a challenging disease with a high unmet need for new treatments. This type of cancer recurs within six months of completion of a platinum-containing regimen, the standard of care for ovarian cancer. An estimated 80 percent of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients have been found to have folate receptor-positive disease, and approximately 40 percent express the receptor, as detected by etarfolatide, in all of their target tumor lesions (FR 100%). Compared to patients who do not express folate receptors on their tumors, folate receptor-positive patients have been shown to have a poorer overall prognosis.
About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visitwww.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
About Endocyte
Endocyte is a biopharmaceutical company and leader in developing targeted small molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs) and companion imaging agents for personalized therapy in cancer and other serious diseases. Endocyte uses its proprietary technology to create novel SMDCs and companion imaging agents for personalized targeted therapies. The company's SMDCs actively target receptors that are expressed or over-expressed on diseased cells, relative to healthy cells. This targeted approach is designed to enable the treatment of patients with highly potent drugs into these cells. The companion imaging agents are designed to identify patients whose disease expresses the molecular target of the therapy and who therefore may be more likely to benefit from treatment. For more information, visit http://www.endocyte.com.
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