Roche announces full FDA approval for Venclexta combinations for acute myeloid leukaemia

• Approval supported by data from phase III confirmatory trials, VIALE-A and VIALE-C
• VIALE-A study showed Venclexta plus azacitidine significantly improved overall survival in newly diagnosed AML compared to azacitidine alone
• Supplemental New Drug Applications approved under the FDA’s Real-Time Oncology Review pilot programme and Project Orbis initiative

             
Basel, 19 October 2020 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted full approval of Venclexta (venetoclax) in combination with azacitidine, or decitabine, or low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) for the treatment of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in adults 75 years or older, or who have comorbidities that preclude use of intensive induction chemotherapy. Venclexta was previously granted provisional approval in this setting under the FDA’s accelerated approval programme in November 2018. Today’s FDA approval converts Venclexta’s accelerated approval in this setting to a full approval.

“Today’s full approval is supported by the significant results that showed that Venclexta in combination with azacitidine extended overall survival for people with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia who cannot tolerate intensive induction chemotherapy,” said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., Roche's Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development. “We are very pleased that this application was reviewed under the FDA’s Real-Time Oncology Review pilot and Project Orbis initiative, helping to bring this treatment option more rapidly to patients in the United States and other countries.”

The approval is primarily based on the results of two phase III studies, VIALE-A and VIALE-C. Results of the VIALE-A study, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2020, showed Venclexta plus azacitidine significantly reduced the risk of death by 34% (overall survival; OS) compared to azacitidine alone (median OS=14.7 months vs. 9.6 months; HR=0.66; 95% CI: 0.52-0.85; p<0.001). People treated with Venclexta plus azacitidine had significantly higher rates of complete remission (CR) with 37% (95% CI: 31-43) compared to 18% (95% CI: 12-25) in people treated with azacitidine alone (p<0.001). The Venclexta plus azacitidine combination also led to higher rates of CR and CR with partial haematologic recovery (CR + CRh), with the combination showing a CR + CRh of 65% compared to 23% with azacitidine alone (p<0.001). The most frequent serious adverse reactions (≥5%), reported in 83% of people treated with Venclexta plus azacitidine, were low white blood cell count with fever (30%), pneumonia (22%), blood infection (excluding fungal;19%), and bleeding (6%).