Bristol-Myers Squibb
Elotuzumab (Empliciti) Photo courtesy of
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved elotuzumab (Empliciti®) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone.
The combination is now approved for use in adults with multiple myeloma (MM) who have received at least two prior therapies, including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
Elotuzumab is also FDA-approved in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone to treat adult MM patients who have received one to three prior therapies.
The FDA’s latest approval of elotuzumab is based on results from the phase 2 ELOQUENT-3 trial, which were presented at the 23rd Congress of the European Hematology Association in June.
ELOQUENT-3 enrolled MM patients who had refractory or relapsed and refractory MM and had received both lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
The patients were randomized to receive elotuzumab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone (EPd, n=60) or pomalidomide and dexamethasone (Pd, n=57) in 28-day cycles until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
The overall response rate was 53.3% in the EPd arm and 26.3% in the Pd arm (P=0.0029). The rate of complete response or stringent complete response was 8.3% in the EPd arm and 1.8% in the Pd arm.
The median progression-free survival was 10.25 months with EPd and 4.67 months with Pd (hazard ratio=0.54, P=0.0078).
Serious adverse events (AEs) occurred in 22% of patients in the EPd arm and 15% in the Pd arm. The most frequent serious AEs (in the EPd and Pd arms, respectively) were pneumonia (13% and 11%) and respiratory tract infection (7% and 3.6%).
AEs occurring in at least 10% of patients in the EPd arm and at least 5% of those in the Pd arm (respectively) included:
- Constipation (22% and 11%)
- Hyperglycemia (20% and 15%)
- Pneumonia (18% and 13%)
- Diarrhea (18% and 9%)
- Respiratory tract infection (17% and 9%)
- Bone pain (15% and 9%)
- Dyspnea (15% and 7%)
- Muscle spasms (13% and 5%)
- Peripheral edema (13% and 7%)
- Lymphopenia (10% and 1.8%).
Additional results from ELOQUENT-3 can be found in the full prescribing information for elotuzumab, which is available at www.empliciti.com.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie are co-developing elotuzumab, with Bristol-Myers Squibb solely responsible for commercial activities.