AbbVie Receives a Positive Reimbursement Recommendation from the Canadian Agencies for Drugs and Technology in Health pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review Expert Review Committee for VENCLEXTA® in Combination with azacitidine for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients

  • pERC recommends reimbursement of VENCLEXTA® (venetoclax) in combination with azacitidine for the treatment of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are ineligible for intensive induction chemotherapy.
  • The VIALE-A trial demonstrated a statistically significant increase in overall survival with VENCLEXTA® in combination with azacitidine compared to placebo in combination with azacitidine alone. 1
  • AML is one of the most difficult-to-treat blood cancers with a very low survival rate. 2,4

ABBVie (NYSE: ABBV), a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, announced today that the CADTH pCODR Expert Review Committee (pERC) recommends that VENCLEXTA® (venetoclax) in combination with azacitidine should be reimbursed for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are 75 years or older, or who have comorbidities that preclude use of intensive induction chemotherapy, only if the conditions listed are met. 3 AML is an aggressive and difficult-to-treat blood cancer with a low survival rate. 2,4 In Canada, the five-year net survival rate is approximately 21% for people diagnosed with AML in the general population. 4

"AML is one of the most common types of leukemia in adults. This cancer progresses rapidly and has a significantly lower survival rate compared to other cancers," said Dr. Joseph Brandwein , Hematology Division Director and Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta . "The average age is nearly 70, and most older AML patients are not candidates for intensive chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. For those patients, treatments to date have not been very effective. This new regimen has demonstrated improved outcomes."

Overall, pERC concluded that venetoclax plus azacitidine provides a treatment option for older patients and patients with comorbidities that has an impact on the disease and improves survival. 3

"I was diagnosed in November 2019 with AML and my treatment plan included VENCLEXTA. I am hopeful that newly diagnosed AML patients will soon have access to this treatment," said William Levine of Courtice, Ontario .

In the VIALE-A trial, the median overall survival of patients who received VENCLEXTA plus azacitidine was 14.7 months (95% CI, 11.9, 18.7) vs 9.6 months (95% CI, 7.4, 12.7) in patients who received azacitidine in combination with placebo. In the VENCLEXTA plus azacitidine arm, the most frequent serious adverse reactions (≥ 5%) were febrile neutropenia (30%), pneumonia (23%), sepsis (16%) and hemorrhage (9%). 1

"We have reached another important milestone. With this positive recommendation by the pCODR Expert Review Committee, we are one step closer to providing this treatment to all Canadians who need it. At AbbVie, we stand by our mission to transform the standard of care for people living with cancer," said Tracey Ramsey , Vice President and General Manager, AbbVie Canada.

VENCLEXTA in combination with azacitidine was approved by Health Canada in December 2020 . Health Canada's approval was granted under Project Orbis, an FDA initiative which provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology products among international partners.

Venetoclax is being developed by AbbVie and Roche. It is jointly commercialized by AbbVie and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, in the U.S. and by AbbVie outside of the U.S.

About AbbVie in Oncology
At AbbVie, we strive to discover and develop medicines that deliver transformational improvements in cancer treatment by uniquely combining our deep knowledge in core areas of biology with cutting-edge technologies, and by working together with our partners – scientists, clinical experts, industry peers, advocates, and patients. We remain focused on delivering these transformative advances in treatment across some of the most debilitating and widespread cancers. We are also committed to exploring solutions to help patients obtain access to our cancer medicines. AbbVie's oncology portfolio consists of marketed medicines and a robust pipeline containing multiple new molecules being evaluated worldwide in more than 300 clinical trials and more than 20 different tumor types.

About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, women's health and gastroenterology, in addition to products and services across its Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.ca . Follow @abbviecanada on Twitter or find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

_________________________

1 AbbVie Corporation Venclexta(R) (venetoclax) Product Monograph. Date of Preparation: September 27, 2016. Date of Revision: January 21, 2021. https://www.abbvie.ca/content/dam/abbvie-dotcom/ca/en/documents/products/VENCLEXTA_PM_EN.pdf . Accessed August 26, 2021.

2 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML). https://www.llscanada.org/leukemia/acute-myeloid-leukemia . Accessed August 26, 2021.

3 CADTH. https://www.cadth.ca/venetoclax . Accessed August 26, 2021.

4 Canadian Cancer Society. Survival statistics for acute myelogenous leukemia. https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/leukemia-acute-myelogenous-aml/prognosis-and-survival/survival-statistics/?region=on .

SOURCE AbbVie Canada

Cision View original content: https://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2021/26/c9595.html

News Provided by Canada Newswire via QuoteMedia

The Conversation (0)

BLINCYTO® ADDED TO CHEMOTHERAPY SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES SURVIVAL IN NEWLY DIAGNOSED PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH B-CELL PRECURSOR ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA

Phase 3 Study Results Demonstrated Three Year, Disease-Free Survival of 96%

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced new data demonstrating that adding BLINCYTO ® (blinatumomab) to chemotherapy significantly improves disease-free survival (DFS) in newly diagnosed pediatric patients with National Cancer Institute (NCI) standard risk (SR) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) of average or higher risk of relapse. The data are from a Phase 3 study (AALL1731) conducted by the Children's Oncology Group. The results were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine and will be presented during the plenary session on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. PT at the 66 th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego .

News Provided by PR Newswire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less

AMGEN ANNOUNCES $1 BILLION MANUFACTURING EXPANSION IN NORTH CAROLINA

Investment Establishes Second Facility in Holly Springs ; Builds on Previous $550M Commitment

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced a $1 billion expansion to establish a second drug substance manufacturing facility in North Carolina . This brings the company's total planned investment in Holly Springs to more than $1.5 billion building on its previously announced $550 million commitment.

News Provided by PR Newswire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less

AMGEN TO PRESENT AT CITI'S 2024 GLOBAL HEALTHCARE CONFERENCE

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) will present at Citi's 2024 Global Healthcare Conference at 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday Dec. 5, 2024. Peter Griffith executive vice president and chief financial officer at Amgen, Jay Bradner executive vice president of Research and Development and chief scientific officer at Amgen, and Susan Sweeney executive vice president of Obesity and Related Conditions at Amgen, will participate in a fireside chat at the conference. The webcast will be broadcast over the internet simultaneously and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public.

The webcast, as with other selected presentations regarding developments in Amgen's business given by management at certain investor and medical conferences, can be found on Amgen's website, www.amgen.com , under Investors. Information regarding presentation times, webcast availability and webcast links are noted on Amgen's Investor Relations Events Calendar. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.

News Provided by PR Newswire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less

AMGEN TO PRESENT AT THE 7th ANNUAL EVERCORE HEALTHCONx CONFERENCE

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) will present at the 7th Annual Evercore HealthCONx Conference at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 . Peter Griffith executive vice president and chief financial officer at Amgen, Jay Bradner executive vice president of Research and Development and chief scientific officer at Amgen, and Susan Sweeney executive vice president of Obesity and Related Conditions at Amgen, will participate in a fireside chat at the conference. The webcast will be broadcast over the internet simultaneously and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public.

The webcast, as with other selected presentations regarding developments in Amgen's business given by management at certain investor and medical conferences, can be found on Amgen's website, www.amgen.com , under Investors. Information regarding presentation times, webcast availability and webcast links are noted on Amgen's Investor Relations Events Calendar. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.

News Provided by PR Newswire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
The Royal Women's Hospital Joins CLEO Ovarian Cancer Trial

The Royal Women's Hospital Joins CLEO Ovarian Cancer Trial

Cleo Diagnostics (COV:AU) has announced The Royal Women's Hospital Joins CLEO Ovarian Cancer Trial

Download the PDF here.

Latest Press Releases

Related News

×