[February 01, 2013]

Health Canada Approves ADCETRIS® (Brentuximab Vedotin) for the Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) and Systemic Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (sALCL)

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGEN) today announced that Health Canada has issued a Notice of Compliance with conditions (NOC (News - Alert)/c), authorizing marketing of ADCETRIS for two lymphoma indications: (1) the treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) after failure of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or after failure of at least two multi-agent chemotherapy regimens in patients who are not ASCT candidates, and (2) the treatment of patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) after failure of at least one multi-agent chemotherapy regimen. The indications for ADCETRIS were authorized based on promising response rates demonstrated in single-arm trials. No data demonstrate increased survival with ADCETRIS.

"We are focused on making ADCETRIS available globally to all eligible patients with relapsed HL and sALCL. The approval of ADCETRIS in Canada, as well as the recent approval in the European Union, are important milestones to accomplish this goal," said Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Genetics. "Now that Health Canada has approved ADCETRIS, we are committed to working closely with public and private insurers to secure reimbursement coverage for patients in Canada."

"The approval of ADCETRIS in Canada marks a significant milestone for patients with relapsed HL or sALCL who have had few new treatment options in several decades," Joseph M. Connors, M.D., FRCPC, Clinical Director, Center for Lymphoid Cancer at BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada.

Health Canada grants NOC/c, a form of market approval, on the basis of promising evidence of clinical effectiveness, for products intended for the treatment of serious, life-threatening or severely debilitating illnesses that meet a serious unmet medical need or demonstrate a significant improvement in the benefit/risk profile over existing therapies. Conditions associated with market authorization under the NOC/c policy include a requirement that Seattle Genetics conduct clinical trials designed to confirm the anticipated clinical benefit of ADCETRIS in these patients. Two confirmatory phase III clinical trials evaluating ADCETRIS in the front-line treatment setting of HL and mature T-cell lymphoma (MTCL), including sALCL, are currently underway and enrolling patients.

ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) was issued marketing authorization under the NOC/c policy based on results from a single-arm, phase II pivotal trial in HL patients with relapsed or refractory disease following an ASCT and a single-arm, phase II pivotal trial in relapsed or refractory sALCL patients. ADCETRIS is administered in hospitals through IV infusion over 30 minutes every three weeks and patients who achieve stable diseae or better should receive a minimum of 8 cycles and up to a maximum of 16 cycles (approximately one year).

ADCETRIS is the first in a new class of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to be approved in Canada. Using Seattle Genetics' proprietary technology, the ADC (News - Alert) consists of a monoclonal antibody directed to an antigen called CD30. The monoclonal antibody is connected to a cell-killing agent by a linker system that is designed to be stable in the bloodstream but to release the cell-killing agent into CD30-expressing cells, resulting in target cell death. The CD30 antigen is known to be expressed on the Reed-Sternberg cells of HL and on sALCL, an aggressive type of T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

"Health Canada's approval of ADCETRIS is the first step in getting patients access to this important therapy," said Sue Robson, Executive Director of Lymphoma Foundation Canada. "The Lymphoma Foundation is committed to working with Canada provincial governments to ensure that appropriate patients have access to this new therapy."

About Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a general term for a group of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system. There are two major categories of lymphoma: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Hodgkin lymphoma is distinguished from other types of lymphoma by the presence of one characteristic type of cell, known as the Reed-Sternberg cell. The Reed-Sternberg cell generally expresses CD30. Systemic ALCL is an aggressive type of T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that also expresses CD30.

According to a report published by the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada, lymphoma is the most common blood cancer, the sixth most common cause of cancer death, and the most common cancer for young people under 30 years of age in Canada. Although primary treatment with front-line combination chemotherapy can result in durable response rates, up to 30 percent of Hodgkin lymphoma and over 50 percent of systemic ALCL patients relapse or are refractory to front-line treatment and have few therapeutic options beyond ASCT.

About ADCETRIS

ADCETRIS received accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2011 and was granted conditional marketing authorization by the European Commission in October 2012 and by Health Canada in February 2013 for relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

ADCETRIS is being evaluated across many disease settings in ongoing clinical trials in Canada, including a planned phase I/II investigator-sponsored clinical trial evaluating ADCETRIS in combination with bendamustine for patients with HL and ALCL that has either relapsed or did not respond to initial treatment. ADCETRIS is not currently approved for use in combination with bendamustine for patients with HL and ALCL that has either relapsed or did not respond to initial treatment.

Seattle Genetics and Millennium are jointly developing ADCETRIS. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Seattle Genetics has U.S. and Canadian commercialization rights and the Takeda Group has rights to commercialize ADCETRIS in the rest of the world. Seattle Genetics and the Takeda Group are funding joint development costs for ADCETRIS on a 50:50 basis, except in Japan where the Takeda Group will be solely responsible for development costs.

About Seattle Genetics

Seattle Genetics is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company's lead program, ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin), received accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2011 for two indications. In addition, under a collaboration with Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, ADCETRIS received conditional approval from the European Commission in October 2012. Seattle Genetics also has three other clinical-stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs: SGN (News - Alert)-75, ASG-5ME and ASG-22ME. Seattle Genetics has collaborations for its ADC technology with a number of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott, Agensys (an affiliate of Astellas), Bayer, Celldex Therapeutics, Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Millennium, Pfizer and Progenics, as well as ADC co-development agreements with Agensys and Genmab. More information can be found at www.seattlegenetics.com.

Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward looking, such as those, among others, relating to additional approvals of, reimbursement for and of the potential of clinical trials of ADCETRIS. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include the inability to show sufficient activity in additional trials and the risk of adverse events as ADCETRIS advances in clinical trials or as a marketed product. More information about the risks and uncertainties faced by Seattle Genetics is contained in the company's 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Seattle Genetics disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]