AstraZeneca, Hutchmed savolitinib/ Tagrisso combo shows response in some lung cancer patients
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AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) said its drug Tagrisso and savolitinib, developed with Hutchmed (China) (NASDAQ:HCM), showed response in certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a phase 2 trial called SAVANNAH.
Tagrisso (osimertinib) plus savolitinib showed an objective response rate (ORR) of 49% in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFRm) NSCLC with high levels of MET overexpression and/or amplification, whose disease progressed despite treatment with Tagrisso.
The highest ORR was seen in patients with high levels of MET who were not previously treated with chemotherapy, the British pharma giant said in an Aug. press release.
However, the company noted that in patients whose tumors did not show high levels of MET, the ORR was 9%.
AstraZeneca added Adverse events (AEs) linked to savolitinib and leading to discontinuation occurred in 13% of patients.
Less than half (45%) of patients experienced Grade 3 or higher adverse events (AEs), with those most frequently reported include, pulmonary embolism (blood clot in lung), difficulty in breathing, decreased neutrophil count and pneumonia.
The company noted that safety profile of Tagrisso plus savolitinib was consistent with the known profiles of the combination and each treatment alone and no new safety signals were identified.
"The results from SAVANNAH suggest savolitinib added to TAGRISSO at the time of disease progression could possibly provide these biomarker-selected patients with a potentially less toxic, more effective treatment option," said Cristian Massacesi, chief medical officer and Oncology chief development officer, AstraZeneca (AZN).