GSK cancer vaccine fails again
pharmafile | March 20, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Cancer, GSK, MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapeutic, NSCLC, lung cancer, melanoma
GlaxoSmithKline’s MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapeutic has delivered another late-stage blow to the firm but it still vows to continue trials.
The ‘MAGRIT’ trial for GSK’s therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients reveals it did not meet its first, or second co-primary endpoint as it did not significantly extend disease-free survival.
Vincent Brichard who is the senior VP and head of Immunotherapeutics at GSK Vaccines, says: “We are disappointed that the trial did not demonstrate a benefit for overall MAGE-A3 positive patient population, but we remain committed to the effort to identify a sub-population of NSCLC patients who may benefit from this investigational treatment.”
The British pharma giant will continue the trial in order to assess the third co-primary endpoint, which is disease-free survival in a gene signature positive sub-population.
Bad news follows the therapy which last year failed to beat placebo in a late-stage trial testing it against the deadliest form of skin cancer – melanoma. That also delivered a blow to the firm and stopped it competing against Bristol-Myers Squibb’s successful Yervoy (ipilimumab) treatment.
Some comfort will be that GSK already has two melanoma treatments on the market however: Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib), which are expected to have combined peak sales of more than $1 billion.
GSK’s third co-primary endpoint is designed to identify a subset of MAGE-A3 positive patients that may benefit from the treatment with its cancer immunotherapeutic.
MAGE-A3 is a tumour-specific antigen expressed in a variety of cancers but not in normal cells. In NSCLC, it is expressed in approximately one-third of tumours in patients diagnosed with Stage IB-IIIA disease.
The MAGRIT trial enrolled 2,312 MAGE-A3-positive patients across more than 400 sites in 34 countries worldwide. Results from a final analysis are expected in 2015.
Brichard added: “We want to thank all patients, their families and healthcare workers for their involvement in the MAGRIT trial.”
Brett Wells
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