On 18 May 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ®, Genentech Inc.) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumours have high PD-L1 expression (PD-L1 stained ≥ 50% of tumour cells [TC ≥ 50%] or PD-L1 stained tumour-infiltrating immune cells [IC] covering ≥ 10% of the tumour area [IC ≥ 10%]), with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumour aberrations.
The FDA also approved the VENTANA PD-L1 (SP142) Assay (Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.) as a companion diagnostic device for selecting patients with NSCLC for treatment with atezolizumab.
Efficacy was evaluated in IMpower110 (NCT02409342), a multicentre, international, randomised, open-label trial in patients with stage IV NSCLC whose tumours express PD-L1 (TC ≥ 1% or IC ≥ 1%), who had received no prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Patients were randomised (1:1) to receive atezolizumab 1200 mg every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity or platinum-based chemotherapy. The main efficacy outcome measure was overall survival (OS).
The trial demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in OS for patients with high PD-L1 tumour expression receiving atezolizumab compared to those treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Median OS was 20.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.5, NE) for patients in the atezolizumab arm compared with 13.1 months (95% CI 7.4, 16.5) in the chemotherapy arm (hazard ratio [HR] 0.59; 95% CI 0.40, 0.89; p = 0.0106). There was no statistically significant difference in OS for the other two PD-L1 subgroups (TC ≥5% or IC ≥5%; and TC ≥1% or IC ≥1%) at the interim or final analyses.
Median progression-free survival (PFS) per investigator was 8.1 months (95% CI 6.8, 11.0) in the atezolizumab arm and 5.0 months (95% CI 4.2, 5.7) in the platinum-based chemotherapy arm (HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.45, 0.88).
Confirmed overall response rate (ORR) per investigator was 38% (95% CI 29, 48) and 29% (95% CI 20, 39), respectively.
The most common adverse reaction (≥ 20%) with atezolizumab as a single agent in IMpower110 was fatigue/asthenia.
The recommended atezolizumab dose for treatment of NSCLC is 840 mg every 2 weeks, 1200 mg every 3 weeks, or 1680 mg every 4 weeks, administered intravenously over 60 minutes.
Full prescribing information for TECENTRIQ is available here.
This review used the Assessment Aid, a voluntary submission from the applicant to facilitate the FDA’s assessment. This application was approved one month prior to the FDA goal date.
This application was granted priority review.
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For assistance with single-patient INDs for investigational oncology products, healthcare professionals may contact FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence Project Facilitate.