BeiGene announces acceptance of a sBLA in China for Brukinsa for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia.

“The sNDA acceptance is welcoming news, and following Btrukinsa ’s recent NMPA approval for patients with WM in the relapsed or refractory setting, this represents an opportunity to expand access to more WM patients in China, subject to NMPA approval. As demonstrated in the ASPEN trial, Brukinsa can offer an efficacious treatment option with improved safety in regard to certain cardiovascular events, such as atrial fibrillation, for patients with WM,” commented Jane Huang, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Hematology, BeiGene.

he sNDA is supported by clinical results from the randomized, open-label, multicenter Phase III ASPEN trial (NCT03053400) comparing Brukinsa to ibrutinib in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) or treatment-naïve (TN) WM.

As assessed by an independent review committee (IRC) based on the modified Sixth International Workshop on Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia (IWWM-6) response criteria (Treon 2015), the combined rate of complete response (CR) and very good partial response (VGPR) in the overall intention-to-treat (ITT) population was 28% with Brukinsa (95% CI: 20, 38), compared to 19% with ibrutinib (95% CI: 12, 28). While this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.09), Brukinsa did achieve numerically higher VGPR rates and trends towards increased response quality.

In the ASPEN trial, Brukinsa demonstrated a more favorable safety profile compared to ibrutinib with lower frequency of certain adverse events, including atrial fibrillation or flutter (2% vs. 15%) and major hemorrhage (6% vs. 9%). Of the 101 patients with WM treated with Brukinsa, 4% of patients discontinued due to adverse events, and adverse events leading to dose reduction occurred in 14% of patients.