U.S. FDA Accepts for Priority Review the Supplemental Biologics License Application for Epcoritamab (EPKINLY) for Difficult-to-Treat Relapsed or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma

Genmab A/S (Nasdaq: GMAB) and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review for the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for epcoritamab-bysp, a T-cell engaging bispecific antibody administered subcutaneously, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL) after two or more lines of systemic therapy.

The FDA grants Priority Review to investigational therapies that, if approved, may offer significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of serious conditions when compared to standard applications. This designation shortens the review period to six months compared to 10 months for Standard Review.ⁱ The FDA has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of June 28, 2024.

“While treatment for patients with relapsed and refractory follicular lymphoma has progressed, there remains an urgent need for new treatment options, particularly for patients who are considered difficult to treat due to relapse following standard therapies and other poor prognostic factors,” said Jan van de Winkel, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Genmab. “The acceptance of the epcoritamab application for Priority Review marks an important milestone toward potentially providing a new treatment option to patients affected by R/R follicular lymphoma. Together with AbbVie, we look forward to working with the FDA during the review and remain committed to developing epcoritamab as a potential future core therapy for B-cell malignancies.”

The sBLA is based on results from the Phase 1/2 EPCORE NHL-1 clinical trial, which demonstrated high overall and complete responses in patients with R/R FL treated with epcoritamab. Data from the FL cohort of the trial were presented at the Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in December 2023. The FDA previously granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) to epcoritamab for the treatment of adult patients with R/R FL after two or more lines of systemic therapy. The application for BTD included additional data from the dose optimization part of EPCORE NHL-1.