Chugai gains Japanese nod for Polivy as lymphoma therapy

Japanese drugmaker Chugai Pharmaceutical (TYO 4519) has obtained approval from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for the anticancer agent Polivy (polatuzumab vedotin [genetical recombination]) intravenous infusion 30mg and 140mg [generic combination with bendamustine and rituximab (BR therapy) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

“I am very pleased that Polivy in combination with BR therapy now can be offered to patients as a new treatment option for R/R DLBCL, a disease with high unmet medical needs, in the hematologic cancer field following Rituxan and Gazyva,” said Chugai’s president and chief executive Dr Osamu Okuda. “We are preparing to bring this first-in-class anti-CD79b antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to patients so that we may contribute to realize a better treatment,” he added.

Chugai’s majority owner Roche (ROG: SIX) received European Commission conditional approval for Polivy for people with previously treated aggressive lymphoma on January 21, 2020. In the USA, Polivy was approved in June 2019 in combination with bendamustine and another Roche drug, MabThera/Rituxan (rituximab) for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).