Gilead's Yescarta shows consistent real-world survival outcomes regardless of race
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Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ:GILD) Kite on Friday announced findings from an analysis of race and ethnicity from its ongoing post-authorization study of Yescarta in adults with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL), a type of cancer in white blood cells called lymphocytes.
The real-world analysis showed overall outcomes including overall survival and progression-free survival rates were consistent with Yescarta in the real-world setting, regardless of race and ethnicity.
The findings also found that Black or African American patients experience longer time from diagnosis to infusion vs. white patients, possibly impacting overall and complete response rates. Kite said more study is warranted.
The findings were presented in an oral session during the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. 
About 1.4K adults with LBCL treated with Yescarta in a commercial setting in the U.S. from Oct. 2017 to Aug. 2020 were included in the analysis. Black or African American patients comprised 5% of the adults.
âThe results of this analysis are encouraging in that (Yescarta) was safe and effective regardless of race or ethnicity, and also warrant further investigation to understand the lower rate of response among Black or African American patients...," said Frederick Locke, lead author and co-leader of the Immuno-Oncology Program at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.
Yescarta has been approved by the U.S. FDA to treat two types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas - LBCL and follicular lymphoma.
GILD stock earlier closed marginally lower at $63.45.