Libtayo® (cemiplimab) approved for advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in the European Union
- Libtayo is the only treatment approved in the EU for adult patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation
- CSCC is one of the most common skin cancers worldwide and is especially difficult to treat in advanced stagesi-
PARIS and TARRYTOWN, NY – July 1, 2019 - The European Commission (EC) has granted conditional marketing authorization for Libtayo® (cemiplimab) for the treatment of adults with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation.
Libtayo is a fully-human monoclonal antibody targeting the immune checkpoint receptor PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1) and is the only treatment approved in advanced CSCC in the European Union (EU).
“With no other medical treatments approved for advanced CSCC in the EU, Libtayo represents an important new option for patients affected with this advanced skin cancer who cannot be cured by surgery or radiation,” said Axel Hauschild, M.D., Ph.D., an investigator in the pivotal CSCC clinical program and Professor and Head of the Interdisciplinary Skin Cancer Center at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, Germany. “Results from the Libtayo pivotal trial are very encouraging and demonstrated substantial and durable responses following Libtayo treatment, including in the elderly and regardless of PD-L1 expression levels.”
Updated data from the registrational EMPOWER-CSCC-1 trial were recently shared at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
CSCC is one of the most commonly diagnosed skin cancers worldwide, and its incidence is estimated to be substantially increasing in some European countries.vi Although the vast majority of patients with CSCC have a good prognosis when discovered early, the cancer can be especially difficult to treat when it progresses to advanced stages.i-v
Advanced CSCC includes both patients with locally advanced disease (where the cancer cannot be cured by surgery and/or radiation) and patients with metastatic disease (when the cancer spreads to other parts of the body). Based upon historical data, patients with advanced CSCC have a life expectancy of approximately one year.vii-x
The EC approval is based on data from the pivotal, open-label, multi-center, non-randomized Phase 2 trial known as EMPOWER-CSCC-1 (Study 1540) and supported by two advanced CSCC expansion cohorts from a multi-center, open-label, non-randomized Phase 1 trial (Study 1423). These trials provide the largest prospective clinical data set evaluating a systemic therapy in patients with advanced CSCC to date.
The recommended dose of Libtayo is 350 mg every 3 weeks administered by intravenous infusion over 30 minutes. Treatment may be continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
The conditional approval recognizes the extreme unmet need in advanced CSCC. As part of the conditional approval, Sanofi and Regeneron will add a new patient group to EMPOWER-CSCC-1 to further support the benefit-risk profile of Libtayo, and report the results to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). As is standard practice for conditional approvals, the EMA reviews new information at least every year and updates product labeling as necessary.
Libtayo is being jointly developed by Sanofi and Regeneron under a global collaboration agreement.
About Libtayo
In addition to the EU, Libtayo is also approved in the U.S., Canada and Brazil for adult patients with metastatic CSCC or locally advanced CSCC who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation. In the U.S., the generic name for Libtayo is cemiplimab-rwlc, with rwlc as the suffix designated in accordance with Nonproprietary Naming of Biological Products Guidance for Industry issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Beyond the ongoing EMPOWER-CSCC-1 trial, Libtayo is also being investigated in adjuvant and neoadjuvant trials in CSCC and in potential registrational trials in non-small cell lung cancer, basal cell carcinoma and cervical cancer. Additional studies include trials in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, melanoma, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. These trials are designed to investigate Libtayo as monotherapy; in combination with conventional treatments like chemotherapy; or in combination with other investigational agents, including vaccines, oncolytic viruses and bispecific antibodies, among others. These potential uses are investigational, and their safety and efficacy have not been evaluated by any regulatory authority.
About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Founded and led for 30 years by physician-scientists, our unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to seven FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development, all of which were homegrown in our laboratories. Our medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuromuscular diseases, infectious diseases and rare diseases.Regeneron is accelerating and improving the traditional drug development process through our proprietary VelociSuite® technologies, such as VelocImmune® which produces optimized fully-human antibodies, and ambitious research initiatives such as the Regeneron Genetics Center, which is conducting one of the largest genetics sequencing efforts in the world.
For additional information about the company, please visit www.regeneron.com or follow @Regeneron on Twitter.
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