Photo courtesy of Amgen
Vials of blinatumomab powder and solution
The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has released 2 new opinions regarding blinatumomab (Blincyto).
The CHMP recommended expanding the approved use of blinatumomab to include pediatric patients, but the committee also recommended against approving blinatumomab to treat patients with minimal residual disease (MRD).
Blinatumomab is already approved by the European Commission (EC) as monotherapy for adults with Philadelphia chromosome-negative (Ph-), CD19-positive, relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL).
Now, the CHMP has recommended expanding this use to include blinatumomab as monotherapy for patients age 1 and older with Ph-, CD19-positive, relapsed/refractory BCP-ALL. These patients must have at least 2 prior therapies or have relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
This recommendation was supported by data from Study ‘205. Results from this phase 1/2 study were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2016.
The CHMP has also recommended against approving blinatumomab to treat BCP-ALL patients with MRD.
This decision was influenced by data from the BLAST study. Results from this phase 2 study were published in Blood earlier this year.
The CHMP noted that, although blinatumomab helped clear away residual cells in many patients in the BLAST trial, there is no strong evidence that this leads to improved survival.
Given the uncertainty, the CHMP was of the opinion that the benefits of blinatumomab do not outweigh its risks in MRD-positive BCP-ALL patients.
Amgen, the company developing and marketing blinatumomab, can request a re-examination of the CHMP’s opinion within 15 days of receiving it.
The CHMP’s recommendations are reviewed by the EC, which has the authority to approve medicines for use in the European Union, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
The EC usually makes a decision within 67 days of CHMP recommendations.