The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw) as the first treatment for adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have specific types of genetic mutations: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations, according to a news release from the agency.
The FDA granted approval of Rybrevant to Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, part of Johnson & Johnson.
The FDA also approved the Guardant360 CDx from Guardant Health as a companion diagnostic for Rybrevant.
“Advances in precision oncology continue to facilitate drug development, allowing diseases like lung cancer to be subset into biomarker-defined populations appropriate for targeted therapies,” said Julia Beaver, MD, Chief of Medical Oncology in the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and acting deputy director of the Office of Oncologic Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “With today’s approval, for the first time, patients with non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations will have a targeted treatment option.”
Lung cancer is the most common cancer type and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with non-small cell lung cancer accounting for 80% to 85% of all lung cancers, according to the American Cancer Society. Approximately 2% to 3% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer will have EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, which are a group of mutations on a protein that causes rapid cell growth, and consequently, helps cancer spread. EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations are the third most common type of EGFR mutation.
Researchers evaluated Rybrevant’s efficacy in a study of 81 patients with non-small cell lung cancer and EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations whose disease had progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The main outcome measured was overall response rate (proportion of patients whose tumor is destroyed or reduced by a drug). In the trial population in which all patients received Rybrevant, the overall response rate was 40%. The median duration of response was 11.1 months, with 63% of patients having a duration of response of 6 months or more.
