Genmab has announced that the EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion recommending the granting of conditional marketing authorization of epcoritamab, a T-cell engaging bispecific antibody administered subcutaneously, as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL) after two or more lines of systemic therapy.

The final European Commission decision on this indication for epcoritamab is anticipated later this year.

“Many people living with follicular lymphoma that has either relapsed or is refractory to existing therapies experience significant treatment challenges with poor prognosis,” says Jan van de Winkel, Chief Executive Officer of Genmab. “This positive opinion recognizes the unmet need in the European Union for patients whose follicular lymphoma is considered difficult-to-treat and that epcoritamab may represent a new therapeutic option.”

Supported by overall and complete response data from the Phase 1/2 EPCORE NHL-1 clinical trial

The CHMP opinion is supported by overall and complete response data from the Phase 1/2 EPCORE NHL-1 clinical trial in 128 patients with R/R FL treated with epcoritamab after two or more lines of systemic therapy. The study included patients who were refractory to both anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy and an alkylating agent, patients who were refractory to last prior treatment, and patients whose disease progressed within two years of first systemic therapy. In the trial, the most common (≥10%) adverse reactions were CRS, injection site reactions, pyrexia, neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, nausea, headache, upper respiratory tract infection, pneumonia, and rash.

An additional cohort of 86 patients evaluated an optimized step-up dosing (SUD) schedule to reduce the incidence and severity of cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which is an associated side effect from immune-engaging cancer treatments. Hospitalization was not mandatory in the optimization cohort. The incidence of CRS was 49% (42 of 86 patients; 9% were grade 2) and there were no grade 3 or higher CRS events in the optimization cohort. The EPCORE NHL-1 results, including results from the optimization cohort, were recently published in the Lancet Haematology. Additionally, data from the optimization cohort were presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, selected to be a part of Best of ASCO (July 19-20, Boston, MA), and were presented at the 2024 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress.

Photo of Jan van de Winkel: Tuala Hjarnoe/Genmab