ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) Plus Novel Immunotherapy Combination Delivers 100% Progression Free Survival at 12 months in Phase 2 Trial of Patients with Early Stage Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

Seagen Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) today announced that clinically meaningful progression-free survival (PFS), a secondary endpoint, was observed in a Phase 2 study evaluating the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab and standard chemotherapy agents doxorubicin and dacarbazine (AN+AD) as first-line treatment for early and advanced stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). This is the first time 12-month PFS results were presented for the treatment combination, which avoids use of vinblastine and bleomycin in patients with early stage cHL. Results from the trial, called SGN35-027, were presented in an oral session at the 65^th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego.

“Hodgkin lymphoma commonly strikes young adults, and our goal is to achieve the highest cure rate possible while reducing treatment and toxicity burden,” said Jeremy Abramson, M.D., Director, Jon and Jo Ann Hagler Center for Lymphoma at Massachusetts General Hospital, and principal investigator of the part of the trial that evaluated patients with early stage cHL. “These data show encouraging activity and safety for combining an ADC and immunotherapy, two medicines that have distinct and complementary mechanisms of action, allowing reduced reliance on traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies.”

“These data continue to demonstrate favorable clinical outcomes of an ADCETRIS plus nivolumab immunotherapy combination that reduces chemotherapy treatment burden and warrant further study,” said Roger Dansey, M.D., President, Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at Seagen.

Oral #611: Brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab, doxorubicin, and dacarbazine (AN+AD) for early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma: Updated results reporting progression-free survival in an ongoing Phase 2 study (SGN35-027 Part C)

SGN35-027 Part C is investigating the novel ADCETRIS combination in 154 patients with early stage (non-bulky Stage I or II) cHL.

• Among 150 efficacy-evaluable patients, 98% had an overall response (OR) (95% CI: 94.3, 99.6) and 93% had a complete response (CR) (95% CI:88.1, 96.8) at the end of treatment.
• 99% of patients who responded (95% CI: 95.0, 99.9) had a duration of response (DOR) beyond 12 months; 98% of patients who had a complete response (95% CI: 93.7, 99.6) had a duration of CR (DOCR) beyond 12 months.
• The PFS rate was 100% (95% CI: 100, 100) at 12 months and 97% (95% CI: 90.3, 99.1) at 18 months.
• The most frequently reported treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) Grade 3 or higher were neutropenia (9%), increased alanine aminotransferase (7%), and increased aspartate aminotransferase (5%).
• Peripheral sensory neuropathy was primarily low grade (3% Grade ≥3).
• There were no cases of febrile neutropenia and no deaths.
• Treatment-emergent immune-mediated adverse events (IMAEs) were primarily low-grade and consistent with the individual safety profile of nivolumab.

Oral #608: Brentuximab vedotin, nivolumab, doxorubicin, and dacarbazine for advanced stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma: Updated efficacy and safety results from the single arm Phase 2 study (SGN35-027 Part B)