EU approves subcutaneous (SC) formulation of MabThera (rituximab) for untreated and relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia- Roche

Roche has announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of MabThera (rituximab) for people with previously untreated and relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). The approved dose for CLL is 1600mg. Following the approval of MabThera SC (1400 mg) for common forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March 2014, this is the second European approval for the formulation.

The European approval was based primarily on data from the phase Ib SAWYER study, in which previously untreated CLL patients received either MabThera SC (1600 mg) or intravenous MabThera (500mg/m2) in combination with chemotherapy (fludarabine and cyclophosphamide), a current standard of care. SAWYER demonstrated treatment with MabThera SC resulted in comparable levels of the medicine in the blood (serum concentrations), as well as efficacy and safety, to intravenous MabThera, and results were recently published in The Lancet Haematology.

Comment: the drug was first EU approved for CLL in March 2009.