The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion and recommended granting marketing authorization of Novartis’s Tabrecta (capmatinib) as a monotherapy for the treatment of adults with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring alterations leading to mesenchymal-epithelial-transition factor gene (MET) exon 14 (METex14) skipping who require systemic therapy following prior treatment with immunotherapy and/or platinum-based chemotherapy.
“Patients with alterations leading to METex14 skipping have an urgent need for treatment options, as this form of lung cancer is aggressive, often diagnosed in an advanced stage and frequently comes with a poor prognosis,” said Juergen Wolf, MD, from the Center for Integrated Oncology, University Hospital Cologne, Germany, and lead investigator of the GEOMETRY mono-1 trial. “The positive CHMP opinion for Tabrecta brings an option to patients for a treatment specific to their tumor. If approved by the European Commission, new targeted therapies like Tabrecta—supported by early and broad molecular testing of patients’ tumors—can better guide treatment decisions and ensure patients receive the appropriate therapy for their cancer.”
The CHMP opinion is based on results from the Phase II GEOMETRY mono-1 trial that demonstrated positive overall response rates (ORR) among adult patients with advanced NSCLC whose tumors had alterations leading to METex14 skipping1. Based on data presented at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, among 31 patients who received Tabrecta as second-line therapy in the METex14 skipping pretreated population, a confirmed ORR of 51.6% (95% CI, 33.1-69.8) was achieved, and the ORR across all 100 previously-treated patients, which included patients who received one or two prior lines of systemic therapy, was 44.0% (95% CI, 34.1-54.3). The most common treatment-related adverse events (AEs) (incidence ≥20%)were peripheral oedema, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, dyspnea, decreased appetite and back pain, Novartis said in its press release.
“Every 30 seconds, someone dies of lung cancer—the need for more treatment options is critical. Through research and targeted therapies like Tabrecta, we are working to change that statistic and make a positive impact on the lives of people affected by cancer around the world,” said Marie-France Tschudin, President, Innovative Medicines International & Chief Commercial Officer, Novartis. “Today’s announcement represents an important step forward for people in the European Union with previously-treated advanced NSCLC having alterations leading to METex14 skipping.”
In the European Union, there are an estimated 291,000 patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC. METex14 skipping, a recognized oncogenic driver, occurs in approximately 3-4% of NSCLC cases.