Positive CHMP opinion to expand Kisqali® breast cancer therapy

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending an expanded indication for Novartis’ Kisqali® (ribociclib), the CDK4/6 inhibitor with the largest body of first-line clinical trial evidence demonstrating consistent, superior and sustained efficacy compared to endocrine therapy alone.

CHMP recommended Kisqali for the treatment of women with hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-) locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with fulvestrant as initial endocrine-based therapy and in women who have received prior endocrine therapy.

The positive opinion also recommended approval of Kisqali in combination with endocrine therapy and a luteinising hormone-release hormone agonist (LHRH) for pre- and perimenopausal women.

This positive CHMP opinion is based on data from the Phase III MONALEESA-7 and MONALEESA-3 trials. These trials demonstrated prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) for Kisqali-based regimens compared to endocrine therapy alone and showed improvements as early as eight weeks after start of treatment with Kisqali combination therapy.

In MONALEESA-7, Kisqali plus an aromatase inhibitor and goserelin nearly doubled the median PFS compared to an aromatase inhibitor and goserelin alone in pre- or perimenopausal women (27.5 months compared to 13.8 months; HR=0.569; 95% CI: 0.436-0.743)[3]. In MONALEESA-3, Kisqali plus fulvestrant demonstrated a median PFS of 20.5 months compared to 12.8 months for fulvestrant alone (HR=0.593; 95% CI: 0.480-0.732) across the overall population of first-line and second-line postmenopausal women.

Globally, an estimated 267,000 women will be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer each year and up to one-third of patients with early-stage breast cancer will subsequently develop advanced disease.

The European Commission will review the CHMP recommendation and should deliver its final decision within two months. The decision will be applicable to all 28 European Union member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Additional regulatory filings are underway with other health authorities worldwide.

Liz Barrett, CEO, Novartis Oncology, said: “Today’s CHMP opinion brings us one step closer to providing more women with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer in Europe with a treatment option.

“The MONALEESA Phase III program enrolled more than 2000 women, giving Kisqali by far the most extensive first-line evidence in clinical trials among any of the CDK4/6 inhibitors. This is another testament to how we are reimagining cancer.”