Calquence, a next generation, selective Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, has been conditionally approved in China for the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy.

This is the first approved indication for Calquence in China.

“This approval for Calquence offers people living with mantle cell lymphoma in China an effective and tolerable new treatment option to help control their disease. As the first approval in China for Calquence, it is also an exciting step forward for AstraZeneca in blood cancers, enabling us to help more patients across the globe gain access to innovative treatments,” says Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca.

Based on positive results from two clinical trials

The conditional approval by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) was based on positive results from two clinical trials, including the ACE-LY-004 global Phase II trial in adults with relapsed or refractory MCL and a Phase I/ II trial in Chinese patients with relapsed or refractory MCL and other B-cell malignancies.1,2 Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification of ongoing randomized controlled confirmatory trials.

Calquence is approved for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in the US and Japan and is approved for the treatment of CLL in the EU and in several other countries worldwide in the treatment-naïve and relapsed or refractory settings. Calquence is also approved in the US and several other countries for the treatment of adult patients with MCL who have received at least one prior therapy. Calquence is not currently approved for the treatment of MCL in Japan or the EU.

Photo of Dave Fredrickson: AstraZeneca