Phase III POLARIX study of Polivy + R-CHP showing 3-year improvement in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presented at ASH

Data from the POLARIX study support the potential benefit of Polivy in combination with Rituxan (rituximab), cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and prednisone (R-CHP) to improve outcomes for people with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). After a median follow up of three years, progression-free survival (PFS) data continued to show a statistically significant reduction in the risk of disease worsening or death with Polivy plus R-CHP compared with Rituxan plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP; [hazard ratio (HR) 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.60-0.97]). After a median follow-up of 39.7 months, overall survival (OS) data was immature with few events in each arm and remained similar between Polivy plus R-CHP and R-CHOP (HR 0.94; 95% CI: 0.67-1.33; p=0.73). In the longer follow-up analysis, no new safety signals were identified.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data from the POLARIX study were also presented, showing that most patients with previously untreated DLBCL receiving Polivy plus R-CHP or R-CHOP reported clinically meaningful improvements in lymphoma symptoms after the first cycle of treatment across both arms (82.3% and 81.3% of patients, respectively). Improvements in fatigue and physical functioning were similar with Polivy plus R-CHP versus R-CHOP, with 74.8% versus 68.2% of patients reporting improvements in fatigue and 42.4% versus 39.6% of patients reporting clinically meaningful improvements in physical functioning at any time point. Reported improvements were sustained during and after first-line therapy, up to the 24-month follow-up. This HRQoL analysis of the POLARIX study demonstrates that these patient-reported outcomes are not compromised with improved PFS, highlighting the potential of Polivy to help manage the burden of DLBCL.

An economic analysis evaluated healthcare costs and resources in the second-line setting and beyond, and found that total healthcare costs increased with each additional line of treatment. Separately, an analysis of the POLARIX study also presented at ASH showed that over the next ten years, Polivy plus R-CHP has the potential to reduce the number of patients receiving second-line treatment by 27% compared to R-CHOP, potentially improving the chance of a positive outcome for more patients and significantly reducing the overall treatment burden of DLBCL.