Gina Columbus

Articles by Gina Columbus

A fourth trastuzumab biosimilar has been granted approval by the FDA. The approval was for PF-05280014 for the treatment of patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer as well as HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

The phase III FORWARD I trial fell short of its primary endpoint, as findings showed the antibody-drug conjugate mirvetuximab soravtansine did not result in a progression-free survival improvement compared with chemotherapy in patients with folate receptor alpha–positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and in an overall patient population.

Subcutaneous use of trastuzumab and hyaluronidase-oysk injection has been approved by the FDA in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of select patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer, in combination with paclitaxel in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer as a frontline treatment, and alone for patients with metastatic disease who have received at least 1 prior chemotherapy regimen.

Merck, the developer of pembrolizumab, has announced that the coprimary endpoints of the KEYNOTE-240 trial were not met, as adding the agent to best supportive care failed to improve progression-free or overall survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who were previously treated with systemic therapy.

Entrectinib has been granted a priority review designation by the FDA as a therapy for&nbsp;select adult and pediatric patients with <em>NTRK</em> fusion&ndash;positive locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors, as well as patients with metastatic <em>ROS1</em>-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer, according to Genentech, the developer of the multikinase inhibitor.

Based on findings from the phase Ib EQUULEUS (MMY1001) trial, a&nbsp;split-dosing regimen of daratumumab has been approved by the FDA&nbsp;for patients with multiple myeloma, providing physicians the option to split the first infusion of the CD38-directed monoclonal antibody over 2 consecutive days or complete in a single session.

Based on a recommendation from the FDA,&nbsp;Aveo Oncology has decided not to submit a new drug application for&nbsp;tivozanib. The FDA has advised it was not satisfied with&nbsp;the preliminary overall survival data from the phase III TIVO-3 trial of patients with highly refractory, advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced its decision to withdraw a&nbsp;supplemental biologics license application currently with&nbsp;the FDA seeking frontline approval for the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab for patients with advanced non&ndash;small cell lung cancer with tumor mutational burden &ge;10 mutations per megabase.