Lynparza approved in Japan for 1st-line maintenance therapy in BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer

AstraZeneca and MSD Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., US (MSD: known as Merck & Co., Inc. inside the US and Canada)  announced that Lynparza (olaparib) has been approved in Japan as a maintenance treatment after 1st-line chemotherapy in patients with BRCA-mutated (BRCAm) advanced ovarian cancer, as detected by an approved companion diagnostic test.

The approval by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare was based on data from the pivotal Phase III SOLO-1 trial which tested Lynparza as maintenance monotherapy compared with placebo in patients with BRCAm advanced ovarian cancer following 1st-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, said: “This approval in Japan is a critical advance for women with ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation. The goals of front-line therapy are long-term remission or a cure, yet currently 70% of patients relapse within three years of initial treatment. The progression-free survival benefit of Lynparza observed in SOLO-1 represents a major step forward in our ambition to transform patient outcomes.”

Roy Baynes, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development, Chief Medical Officer, MSD Research Laboratories, said: “Advances in understanding the role of BRCA mutations and PARP inhibition have fundamentally changed how physicians can treat this aggressive type of cancer. With the approval of this new indication, patients in Japan with BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer who respond to chemotherapy will have the opportunity to benefit from Lynparza in the first-line maintenance setting.”

Results for the SOLO-1 trial announced in October 2018 showed at 40.7 months of follow-up the median time of progression for patients treated with Lynparza had not yet been reached vs. 13.8 months for those on placebo (HR 0.30 [95% CI, 0.23-0.41], p<0.001).

Lynparza is the only PARP inhibitor approved in Japan. AstraZeneca and MSD are exploring additional trials in ovarian cancer, including the ongoing Phase III PAOLA-1 trial, which is testing Lynparza in combination with bevacizumab as a 1st-line maintenance treatment for women with newly-diagnosed, advanced, stage IIIB-IV high grade serous or endometrioid ovarian cancer, regardless of BRCA status.

The Japanese approval follows European Commission marketing authorisation announced in June 2019. Interactions with regulatory authorities in the rest of the world are ongoing.