ST. HELIER, Jersey--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Novocure (NASDAQ: NVCR) will present today for the first time the design of its phase 3 pivotal trial of Tumor Treating Fields combined with paclitaxel in patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2018 in Chicago. Tumor Treating Fields is a cancer therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt cell division, inhibiting tumor growth and causing affected cancer cells to die.
INNOVATE-3, a prospective, open-label study, will include 540 patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Patients will be randomized to receive either weekly paclitaxel alone or weekly paclitaxel in combination with Tumor Treating Fields tuned to 200 kHz until progression. The primary endpoint is overall survival. Secondary endpoints include progression free survival, objective response rate, severity and frequency of adverse events, time to undisputable deterioration in health-related quality of life or death, and quality of life. Patients must be 18 years or older, and have an epithelial histology of ovarian/primary peritoneal or fallopian tube carcinoma at diagnosis, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of 0-1, and evaluable disease in the abdominal/pelvic region. Patients may have had a maximum of two prior lines of systemic therapy following diagnosis of platinum-resistance. Patients who have participated in prior clinical trials may be included.
The trial design for INNOVATE-3 was based on the promising results of Novocure’s phase 2 pilot trial in recurrent ovarian cancer, which examined Tumor Treating Fields in combination with standard of care chemotherapy. This trial was a single-arm, open-label, historically-controlled, multi-center study, designed to test the feasibility, safety and preliminary efficacy of Tumor Treating Fields in combination with weekly paclitaxel. The paclitaxel control arm from the bevacizumab phase 3 FDA registration trial was used as a historical control in this trial.
A total of 30 patients were enrolled with a minimum follow-up of six months. Safety results suggested that Tumor Treating Fields in combination with weekly paclitaxel may be tolerable and safe as first-line treatment for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Median progression free survival in the Tumor Treating Fields-treated group was 8.9 months (compared to 3.9 months in the paclitaxel-alone historical control) and median overall survival was not yet reached. Median one-year survival was 61 percent. Efficacy results based on the 30 evaluable patients suggested more than doubling of the progression free survival and an improvement in overall survival among patients who received Tumor Treating Fields therapy with paclitaxel compared to paclitaxel alone.
“After having a recurrence, women with ovarian cancer experience a median overall survival of only 13 to 14 months,” said Dr. Eilon Kirson, Novocure’s Chief Science Officer and Head of Research and Development. “Our preclinical research has demonstrated synergistic effects between Tumor Treating Fields and taxane-based chemotherapies. We are excited to present the trial design for INNOVATE-3 at the ASCO Annual Meeting and are eager to make this trial available to patients who are in need of better outcomes.”
About Ovarian Cancer
|In the United States, ovarian cancer
ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths
than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. Ovarian cancer
incidence increases with age, and the median age at time of diagnosis is
63 years old. The incidence of ovarian cancer is approximately 22,000
new cases annually in the United States, approximately 68,000 new cases
annually in Europe, and approximately 10,000 new cases annually in
Japan. Tumor Treating Fields is not approved for the treatment of
ovarian cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The safety and
effectiveness of Tumor Treating Fields for ovarian cancer has not been
established.
About Novocure
Novocure is an oncology company developing a
profoundly different cancer treatment utilizing a proprietary therapy
called Tumor Treating Fields, the use of electric fields tuned to
specific frequencies to disrupt solid tumor cancer cell division.
Novocure’s commercialized product is approved for the treatment of adult
patients with glioblastoma. Novocure has ongoing or completed clinical
trials investigating Tumor Treating Fields in brain metastases,
non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer and
mesothelioma.
Headquartered in Jersey, Novocure has U.S. operations in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Malvern, Pennsylvania and New York City. Additionally, the company has offices in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Israel. For additional information about the company, please visit www.novocure.com or follow us at www.twitter.com/novocure.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical facts or statements of current condition, this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide Novocure’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. These may include statements regarding anticipated scientific progress on its research programs, clinical trial progress, development of potential products, interpretation of clinical results, prospects for regulatory approval, manufacturing development and capabilities, market prospects for its products, coverage, collections from third-party payers and other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts. You may identify some of these forward-looking statements by the use of words in the statements such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe” or other words and terms of similar meaning. Novocure’s performance and financial results could differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements due to general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions as well as more specific risks and uncertainties facing Novocure such as those set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 22, 2018, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these risks and uncertainties, any or all of these forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Therefore, you should not rely on any such factors or forward-looking statements. Furthermore, Novocure does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. Any forward-looking statements herein speak only as of the date hereof. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits this discussion.
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