Objective responses for Astellas and Seagen's Padcev/Keytruda combo in urothelial cancer

Japan’s Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503) and US biotech Seagen (Nasdaq: SGEN) have announced updated results from two clinical trials examining Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) alone (EV-201 Cohort 2) and Padcev in combination with Merck & Co’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) (EV-103 Cohort A) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who are not able to receive cisplatin chemotherapy.

“EV-201 Cohort 2 is the first study to report objective responses in patients with advanced urothelial cancer that progressed following immunotherapy and who have medical conditions that prevent them from receiving cisplatin chemotherapy,” said Dr Andrew Krivoshik, senior vice president and Oncology Therapeutic Area Head, Astellas. “The analysis that will be presented at ASCO showed that after a median follow-up of 16 months, many patients continued to benefit from Padcev – an important finding for these patients, who have very limited treatment options,” he added.

“EV-103 is the first clinical trial to combine the antibody-drug conjugate Padcev with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda in patients newly diagnosed with locally-advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer,” said Dr Roger Dansey, chief medical officer, Seagen. “The updated data from EV-103 Cohort A, with two years of follow-up, build upon findings from the initial analysis, showing continued durability for this platinum-free combination,” he noted.