Imfinzi has been approved in China for the 1st-line treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), in combination with standard of care platinum chemotherapy (etoposide plus a choice of either carboplatin or cisplatin).

“Today’s approval of Imfinzi plus chemotherapy brings an important global standard of care to patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer in China, who have had few treatment options and a dire prognosis. Physicians can now offer these patients a well-tolerated immunotherapy regimen with sustained overall survival and prolonged treatment response, as well as convenient dosing. This is also the first time physicians have had the choice to combine immunotherapy with cisplatin, a preferred chemotherapy in this setting in China,” says Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca.

Positive results from the CASPIAN Phase III trial

The approval by China’s National Medical Products Administration was based on positive results from the CASPIAN Phase III trial. The trial showed that Imfinzi plus chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) versus chemotherapy alone. In addition, results from the China cohort of patients were consistent with the global results.

The CASPIAN Phase III trial used a fixed dose of Imfinzi (1500mg) administered every three weeks for four cycles while in combination with chemotherapy and then every four weeks as a monotherapy until disease progression. Based on the trial results, Imfinzi, in combination with etoposide and either carboplatin or cisplatin, is approved in the 1st-line setting of ES-SCLC in more than 55 countries, including the US, Japan and across the EU.

Imfinzi

Imfinzi is also being tested following concurrent chemoradiation therapy in patients with limited-stage SCLC in the ADRIATIC Phase III trial as part of a broad development programme. In addition, Imfinzi is also approved to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the curative-intent setting of unresectable, Stage III disease after chemoradiation therapy in the US, Japan, China, across the EU and in many other countries, based on results from the PACIFIC Phase III trial.

Photo of Dave Fredrickson: AstraZeneca