Pfizer : FDA Oks PADCEV + Keytruda Combo For Cisplatin-Ineligible Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

(RTTNews) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY, 4503.T) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PADCEV (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv), a Nectin-4 directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) or Keytruda QLEX (pembrolizumab and berahyaluronidase alfa-pmph), as neoadjuvant treatment and then continued after cystectomy (surgery) as adjuvant treatment for adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.

The approval of the perioperative (before and after surgery) treatment was based on results from the pivotal Phase 3 EV-303 clinical trial (also known as KEYNOTE-905).

Perioperative PADCEV plus pembrolizumab is also being evaluated in cisplatin-eligible patients with MIBC in the EV-304 Phase 3 clinical trial (also known as KEYNOTE-B15).

PADCEV plus pembrolizumab is also approved for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (la/mUC) in the United States, Japan and a number of other countries around the world. In the European Union, the combination is approved for the treatment of adult patients with la/mUC who are eligible for platinum-containing chemotherapy. PADCEV is also approved as a single agent for the treatment of adult patients with la/mUC who have previously received a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor and platinum-containing chemotherapy or are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and have previously received one or more prior lines of therapy.

Seagen and Astellas previously entered a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck to evaluate the combination of Seagen's and Astellas' PADCEV (enfortumab vedotin) and Merck's Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who are not eligible for or declined cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Pfizer successfully completed its acquisition of Seagen on December 14, 2023.

Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc.

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