Novartis' five-year Kymriah data show durable remission in advanced B-cell ALL

Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN; VX) on Sunday announced long-term five-year follow-up results from the ELIANA pivotal clinical trial of Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), the first-ever approved CAR-T cell therapy, in children and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

For the 79 patients treated with Kymriah in this study, the five-year overall survival (OS) rate was 55% (95% CI, 43-66) and five-year event-free survival (EFS) was 42% (95% CI, 29-54). These findings demonstrate the curative potential of Kymriah, the only CAR-T cell therapy available for these patients who previously had limited treatment options. These data were presented as an oral presentation during the 2022 European Hematology Association (EHA) Hybrid Congress.

Kymriah is already marketed and generated sales of $587 million for the company in 2021.