Novartis has won FDA approval for Afinitor (everolimus) tablets for the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer (advanced HR+ breast cancer) in combination with exemestane after failure of treatment with letrozole or anastrozole.
The approval was based on a placebo-controlled, multi-center trial called Breast cancer trials of OraL EveROlimus-2, which evaluated 724 postmenopausal women with advanced HR+ breast cancer with recurrence or progression following prior therapy with letrozole or anastrozole.
Novartis Oncology president Herve Hoppenot said the company is bringing a highly-effective treatment to women and physicians who are in need of new approaches in the battle against the disease.
"This milestone is a result of an extensive collaboration with researchers around the world who have helped study Afinitor in advanced breast cancer, as well as the more than 700 women who participated in the trial," Hoppenot added.
The pivotal Phase III study found that treatment with Afinitor plus exemestane more than doubled median progression-free survival (PFS) to 7.8 months, compared to 3.2 months with exemestane alone (hazard ratio=0.45 [95% Cl: 0.38 to 0.54]; p<0.0001) by local investigator assessment.
The most common grade 3-4 adverse reactions (incidence >= 2%) were stomatitis, infections, hyperglycemia, fatigue, dyspnea, pneumonitis and diarrhea.
