AstraZeneca and Merck & Co have announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Priority Review for the use of Lynparza (olaparib) tablets as a maintenance treatment in patients with newly-diagnosed, BRCA-mutated (BRCAm) advanced ovarian cancer who were in complete or partial response following 1st-line standard platinum-based chemotherapy.

A Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date is set for the first quarter of 2019. This is the first US regulatory submission acceptance for a poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor in the 1st-line maintenance setting for advanced ovarian cancer, and if approved will be the fourth indication for Lynparza in the US.

Positive Phase III results

This submission was based on positive results from the pivotal Phase III SOLO-1 trial. The trial showed a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) for Lynparza compared to placebo, reducing the risk of disease progression or death by 70% in patients with newly-diagnosed, BRCAm advanced ovarian cancer who were in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy (HR 0.30 [95% CI 0.23-0.41], p<0.001). Of those receiving Lynparza, 60% remained progression-free at 36 months compared to 27% of women in the placebo arm.

Lynparza is currently approved in over 60 countries for the treatment of platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer regardless of BRCA status. It is also approved in several countries, including the US and Japan, for germline BRCAm HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer – regulatory reviews are underway in the EU, Japan and other markets.

About SOLO-1

SOLO-1 is a Phase III randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Lynparza tablets (300mg twice daily) as maintenance monotherapy compared with placebo, in newly-diagnosed patients with BRCAm advanced ovarian cancer following platinum-based chemotherapy. The trial randomised 391 patients with a deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation who were in clinical complete or partial response following platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients were randomised (2:1) to receive Lynparza or placebo for up to two years or until disease progression (at the investigator’s discretion).The primary endpoint was PFS and key secondary endpoints included time to second disease progression or death, time to first subsequent treatment and overall survival.