Roche receives positive CHMP opinion for Tecentriq in combination with Avastin for the treatment of people with the most common form of liver cancer

Roche announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended the approval of Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in combination with Avastin (bevacizumab) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced or unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not received prior systemic therapy. Based on this recommendation, a final decision regarding approval of Tecentriq in combination with Avastin in this disease setting, along with the full details of the approved indication, is expected from the European Commission in the near future.

“Today’s recommendation by the CHMP is a major step towards bringing Tecentriq in combination with Avastin to people in Europe who suffer from advanced or unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma,” said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development. “This represents an important milestone in a deadly malignancy and is part of our long-term commitment to improve the lives of people with various types and stages of liver disease.”

“After more than a decade of therapeutic stagnation, the results of the IMbrave150 study are likely to change the way we treat patients with liver cancer who are diagnosed at or reach the advanced stage,” said Professor Bruno Sangro, Director of the Liver Unit and Coordinator of the HPB Oncology Area at Clinica Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. “The data from the study showed that the combination of Tecentriq and Avastin results in longer survival with better quality of life than any current choice of tyrosine kinase inhibitor and, for a large subset of patients, is able to induce deep, durable and sometimes complete tumour remissions.”

The recommendation from the CHMP is based on results from the Phase III IMbrave150 study, which showed that Tecentriq in combination with Avastin reduced the risk of death (overall survival [OS]) by 42% (hazard ratio [HR]=0.58; 95% CI: 0.42–0.79; p=0.0006) and reduced the risk of disease worsening or death (progression-free survival [PFS]) by 41% (HR=0.59; 95% CI: 0.47–0.76; p<0.0001), compared with sorafenib. IMbrave150 is the first Phase III cancer immunotherapy study to show an improvement in both OS and PFS in people with unresectable HCC compared with sorafenib. Grade 3–4 adverse events occurred in 57% of people receiving Tecentriq and Avastin and 55% of people receiving sorafenib. The most frequent serious adverse reactions (≥2%) were bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract and fever. These results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 14 May 2020.

In May 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Tecentriq in combination with Avastin for the treatment of people with unresectable or metastatic HCC who have not received prior systemic therapy.  Tecentriq in combination with Avastin was also recently included as a class I, A recommendation by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) for the treatment of unresectable HCC, as well as by many clinical practice guidelines globally.

Roche is committed to tackling liver disease right across the disease journey, from the earliest stages through to advanced disease, with the ultimate goal of one day stopping chronic liver disease.

Roche has an extensive development programme for Tecentriq, including multiple ongoing and planned Phase III studies, across several types of lung, genitourinary, skin, breast, gastrointestinal, gynaecological, and head and neck cancers. This includes studies evaluating Tecentriq both alone and in combination with other medicines.