AstraZeneca, MSD get Japenese nod for breast cancer drug Lynparza

This approval by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare was based on results from the OlympiA Phase III trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine in June 2021. In the trial, Lynparza demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in invasive disease-free survival (iDFS), reducing the risk of invasive breast cancer recurrences, new cancers, or death by 42% versus placebo (based on a hazard ratio [HR] of 0.58; 99.5% confidence interval [CI] 0.41-0.82; p<0.0001).

Lynparza also demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival, reducing the risk of death by 32% versus placebo (based on an HR of 0.68; 98.5% CI 0.47-0.97; p=0.009). The safety and tolerability profile of Lynparza in this trial was in line with that observed in prior clinical trials.

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer worldwide with an estimated 2.3 million patients diagnosed in 2020. In Japan, an estimated 95,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, and over 15,000 will die from the disease. Out of the approximately 80% of patients with HER2-negative breast cancer, about 11% have BRCA mutations.

Professor Andrew Tutt, Global Chair of the OlympiA Phase III trial and Professor of Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and King's College London, said: "The approval marks a new era of care for patients in Japan. For patients with high-risk early-stage breast cancer, including those with germline BRCA mutations, recurrence rates remain unacceptably high, with more than one in four of these patients seeing their cancer return following surgery and systemic treatment. Today's approval offers eligible patients in Japan an effective and targeted treatment that improves survival and helps to prevent cancer recurrence."

Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said: "Today's approval marks a significant leap forward for breast cancer patients in Japan, where it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Patients with BRCA mutations have high rates of disease recurrence and lower survival, and Lynparza has been shown to significantly reduce both the risk of recurrence and death. We hope this approval sets a new, much-needed standard of care for these early breast cancer patients in Japan."

Dr Eliav Barr, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer, MSD Research Laboratories, said: "With this approval, Lynparza becomes the first and only PARP inhibitor available for patients with BRCA-mutated HER2-negative early breast cancer in Japan. This further reinforces the critical need to conduct BRCA testing at the point of diagnosis so that all eligible patients can be identified."

In March 2022, Lynparza was approved in the US for the treatment of germline BRCAm (gBRCAm), HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer, followed by approval in the EU in August 2022 based on the results of the OlympiA Phase III trial. Lynparza is also approved in the US, EU, Japan, and many other countries for the treatment of patients with gBRCAm, HER2-negative, metastatic breast cancer previously treated with chemotherapy based on results from the OlympiAD Phase III trial. In the EU, this indication also includes patients with locally advanced breast cancer.