On November 21, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval to daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, or bortezomib and dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. Approval was based on two randomized, open-label trials in which daratumumab was added to these backbone therapies. The MMY3003 trial demonstrated substantial improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) when daratumumab was added to lenalidomide and dexamethasone compared with lenalidomide and dexamethasone alone. The estimated median PFS had not been reached in the daratumumab arm and was 18.4 months in the control arm (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.27-0.52; p < .0001), representing a 63% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death. Similar results were observed in the MMY3004 trial comparing the combination of daratumumab, bortezomib, and dexamethasone with bortezomib and dexamethasone. The estimated median PFS was not reached in the daratumumab arm and was 7.2 months in the control arm (HR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.28-0.53; p < .0001), representing a 61% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death. The most frequently reported adverse reactions (greater than or equal to 20%) in MMY3003 were infusion reactions, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, pyrexia, upper respiratory tract infection, muscle spasm, cough, and dyspnea. The most frequently reported adverse reactions (greater than or equal to 20%) in MMY3004 were infusion reactions, diarrhea, peripheral edema, upper respiratory tract infection, and peripheral sensory neuropathy. Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia have been added to the Warnings and Precautions of the drug label.

On November 6, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to vemurafenib for the treatment of adult patients with Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) with BRAFV600 mutation. ECD is a type of histiocytosis, a rare disorder characterized by an abnormal accumulation and behavior of cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system, which includes antigen-processing cells, dendritic cells, monocytes, or macrophages. Recently published data confirm a frequency of 54% of BRAFV600E mutations in patients with ECD.Approval was based on a cohort of 22 patients who received 960 mg of vemurafenib twice daily within the VE Basket Trial (MO28072), a single-arm, multicenter, multiple cohort study. Patients in the ECD cohort had histologically confirmed ECD with BRAFV600 mutations that were refractory to standard therapy. The ECD cohort achieved an overall response rate of 54.5% (95% confidence interval: 32.2-75.6), with a complete response rate of 4.5%. With a median duration of follow-up of 26.6 months, the median duration of response has not been reached. The most frequently reported adverse reactions (>50%) in the ECD cohort were arthralgia, rash maculo-papular, alopecia, fatigue, electrocardiogram QT interval prolonged, and skin papilloma. The median treatment duration for ECD patients in this study was 14.2 months. This article describes the FDA review of the vemurafenib efficacy supplement for patients with ECD with BRAFV600 mutations. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Vemurafenib, an oral monotherapy targeting a mutation in BRAF, is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD). ECD is an extremely rare hematopoietic neoplasm that represents clonal proliferation of myeloid progenitor cells. ECD may involve bone and one or more organ systems, primarily affecting adults in their 5th and 7th decades of life, with a slight male predominance. This approval provides an effective and reasonably safe therapy for patients with a serious and life-threatening condition for which no approved therapy exists.

Until recently in the United States, no products were approved for second-line treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma. On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved atezolizumab for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. Atezolizumab is a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) blocking antibody and represents the first approved product directed against PD-L1. This accelerated approval was based on results of a single-arm trial in 310 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who had disease progression after prior platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients received atezolizumab 1,200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Key efficacy measures were objective response rate (ORR), as assessed by Independent Review per RECIST 1.1, and duration of response (DoR). With a median follow-up of 14.4 months, confirmed ORR was 14.8% (95% CI: 11.1, 19.3) in all treated patients. Median DoR was not reached and response durations ranged from 2.1+ to 13.8+ months. Of the 46 responders, 37 patients had an ongoing response for ≥ 6 months. The most common adverse reactions (≥20%) were fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, urinary tract infection, pyrexia, and constipation. Infection and immune-related adverse events also occurred, including pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, endocrine disorders, and rashes. Overall, the benefit-risk assessment was favorable to support accelerated approval. The observed clinical benefits need to be verified in confirmatory trial(s).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to atezolizumab and pembrolizumab in April and May 2017, respectively, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy. These approvals were based on efficacy and safety data demonstrated in the two single-arm trials, IMvigor210 (atezolizumab) and KEYNOTE-052 (pembrolizumab). The primary endpoint, confirmed objective response rate, was 23.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.2%-32.2%) in patients receiving atezolizumab and 28.6% (95% CI: 24.1%-33.5%) in patients receiving pembrolizumab. The median duration of response was not reached in either study and responses were seen regardless of PD-L1 status. The safety profiles of both drugs were generally consistent with approved agents targeting PD-1/PD-L1. Two ongoing trials (IMvigor130 and KEYNOTE-361) are verifying benefit of these drugs. Based on concerning preliminary reports from these trials, FDA revised the indications for both agents in cisplatin-ineligible patients. Both drugs are now indicated for patients not eligible for any platinum-containing chemotherapy or not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and whose tumors/infiltrating immune cells express a high level of PD-L1. The indications for atezolizumab and pembrolizumab in patients who have received prior platinum-based therapy have not been changed. This article summarizes the FDA thought process and data supporting the accelerated approval of both agents and the subsequent revision of the indications. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The accelerated approvals of atezolizumab and pembrolizumab for cisplatin-ineligible patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma represent the first approved therapies for this patient population. These approvals were based on single-arm trials demonstrating reasonable objective response rates and favorable durations of response with an acceptable toxicity profile compared with available non-cisplatin-containing chemotherapy regimens. However, based on concerning preliminary reports from two ongoing phase III trials, the FDA revised the indication for both agents in cisplatin-ineligible patients. Both are now indicated either for patients not eligible for any platinum-containing chemotherapy or not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and whose tumors have high expression of PD-L1.

: On October 2, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for pembrolizumab, a breakthrough therapy-designated drug, for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), as determined by an FDA-approved test, and who have disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy or targeted therapy against anaplastic lymphoma kinase or epidermal growth factor receptor, if appropriate. This indication was approved concurrently with the PD-L1 immunohistochemistry 22C3 pharmDx, a companion diagnostic test for patient selection based on PD-L1 tumor expression. The accelerated approval was granted based on durable objective response rate (ORR) and an acceptable toxicity profile demonstrated in a multicenter, open-label trial enrolling 550 patients with metastatic NSCLC. The efficacy population comprised 61 patients with tumors identified as strongly positive for PD-L1, and the confirmed ORR as determined by blinded independent central review was 41% (95% confidence interval: 28.6%, 54.3%); all were partial responses. At the time of the analysis, responses were ongoing in 21 of 25 patients (84%), with 11 patients (44%) having response duration of ≥6 months. The most commonly occurring (≥20%) adverse reactions included fatigue, decreased appetite, dyspnea, and cough. The most frequent (≥2%) serious adverse drug reactions were pleural effusion, pneumonia, dyspnea, pulmonary embolism, and pneumonitis. Immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in 13% of patients and included pneumonitis, colitis, hypophysitis, and thyroid disorders. The accelerated approval regulations describe approval of drugs and biologic products for serious and life-threatening illnesses based on a surrogate endpoint likely to predict clinical benefit. Under these regulations, a confirmatory trial or trials is required to verify and describe the benefit of pembrolizumab for patients with metastatic NSCLC.

Within one year, five immunotherapies have been approved for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. The availability of these immunotherapies brings challenges to all stakeholders in the field. Additional research is needed to identify biomarkers that are predictive of individual patient response to different immunotherapies.