Tagrisso granted Priority Review in the US for the adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer

On Oct 20, 2020

AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso (osimertinib) has received acceptance for its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) and has also been granted Priority Review in the US for the adjuvant treatment of patients with early-stage (IB, II and IIIA) epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after complete tumour resection with curative intent.

While up to 30% of all patients with NSCLC may be diagnosed early enough to have potentially curative surgery, disease recurrence is still common in early-stage disease and nearly half of patients diagnosed in Stage IB, and over three quarters of patients diagnosed in Stage IIIA, experience recurrence within five years.^1-4

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants Priority Review to applications for medicines that offer significant improvements over available options by demonstrating safety or efficacy improvements, preventing serious conditions, or enhancing patient compliance. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act date, the FDA action date for their regulatory decision, is during the first quarter of 2021.

Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, said: “Patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer are still at considerable risk of recurrence after surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, and new targeted treatment options are critical to improving outcomes for these patients. This expedited review underscores the unprecedented disease-free survival benefit Tagrisso brings to patients in the adjuvant setting, and we will continue working with the FDA to provide this practice-changing treatment to patients as quickly as possible.”

The sNDA was based on results from the ADAURA Phase III trial showing Tagrisso demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in disease-free survival (DFS) in the primary analysis population of patients with Stage II and IIIA EGFRm NSCLC, and also in the overall trial population of patients with Stage IB-IIIA disease, a key secondary endpoint.

In April 2020, an Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended for the trial to be unblinded two years early, based on its determination of overwhelming efficacy. Investigators and patients continue to participate in the trial and remain blinded to treatment. The results from the ADAURA trial were presented during the plenary session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program in May 2020 and were recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Tagrisso received Breakthrough Therapy Designation in this setting in July 2020. Tagrisso is approved for both the 1st-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFRm NSCLC and for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic EGFR T790M mutation-positive NSCLC in the US, Japan, China, the EU and many other countries around the world.