SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) today announced that it has entered into a master clinical drug supply agreement with Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib), an oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, in combination with GAZYVA® (obinutuzumab), a new CD20-directed antibody that attacks targeted cells both directly and together with the body's immune system, in patients with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL). The agreement allows for multiple studies to be considered and conducted. Initially, a Phase 3 study will be conducted by Pharmacyclics in CLL/SLL. Plans to evaluate the combination for NHL currently are in development. IMBRUVICA is being jointly developed and commercialized by Pharmacyclics and Janssen Biotech, Inc.
Both products are approved and marketed for the treatment of CLL. IMBRUVICA is used to treat CLL in patients who have received one prior therapy, and in CLL patients with deletion of the short arm of chromosome 17 (del 17p CLL), including treatment naive and previously treated del 17p CLL patients. GAZYVA is used with the chemotherapy drug, chlorambucil, to treat CLL in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The use of these products in combination is investigational only.
"We are committed to evaluating the potential activity of IMBRUVICA as a single agent and in combination with other agents to determine the benefits that IMBRUVICA may provide through a variety of uses across several hematologic malignancies," said Bob Duggan, Chairman & CEO, Pharmacyclics. "We look forward to a rewarding and productive partnership with Roche to evaluate our product with GAZYVA in order to deliver new treatment options to patients with NHL and CLL."
The study of the investigational combination of IMBRUVICA and GAZYVA through several investigator-sponsored trials also is being considered. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.
About IMBRUVICA®
IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib) is a first-in-class, oral, once-daily therapy that inhibits a protein called Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). BTK is a key signaling molecule in the B-cell receptor signaling complex that plays an important role in the survival and spread of malignant B cells. IMBRUVICA blocks signals that tell malignant B cells to multiply and spread uncontrollably.
IMBRUVICA is approved for the treatment of patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy, and for the treatment of CLL patients with del 17p, a genetic mutation that occurs when part of chromosome 17 has been lost.
IMBRUVICA is also approved for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy. Accelerated approval was granted for the MCL indication based on overall response rate (ORR). Improvements in survival or disease-related symptoms have not been established. Continued approval for the MCL indication may be contingent upon verification of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.
IMBRUVICA is being studied alone and in combination with other treatments in several blood cancers including CLL, MCL, Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM), DLBCL, FL and multiple myeloma (MM). Approximately 3,500 patients have received IMBRUVICA in clinical trials conducted in 35 countries by more than 800 investigators around the world. As of June 30, 2014, 12 Phase 3 trials have been initiated with IMBRUVICA and approximately 50 trials are registered on www.clinicaltrials.gov. The overall clinical development program in CLL currently includes seven Phase 3 trials and covers all lines of therapy and various combinations of treatments.
IMBRUVICA was one of the first medicines to receive U.S. FDA approval via the new Breakthrough Therapy Designation pathway, and is the only product to have received three Breakthrough Therapy Designations. IMBRUVICA is jointly developed and commercialized by Janssen Biotech, Inc. and Pharmacyclics.
IMBRUVICA INDICATIONS
IMBRUVICA is indicated to treat people with:
- Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have received at least one prior therapy
- Accelerated approval was granted for this indication based on overall response rate. Improvements in survival or disease-related symptoms have not been established. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with 17p deletion
IMBRUVICA - IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Warnings and Precautions include hemorrhage, infection, cyptopenias, atrial fibrillation, second primary malignancies, and embryo-fetal toxicity.
The most common adverse reactions include thrombocytopenia, diarrhea, neutropenia, anemia, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, peripheral edema, upper respiratory tract infection, nausea, bruising, dyspnea, constipation, rash, abdominal pain, pyrexia, vomiting, and decreased appetite.
For additional important safety information, please see Full Prescribing Information at www.imbruvica.com/downloads/Prescribing_Information.pdf.
For important safety information about GAZYVA, please see the GAZYVA Full Prescribing Information.
About Pharmacyclics
Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative small-molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer and immune mediated diseases. The company's mission is to build a viable biopharmaceutical company that designs, develops and commercializes novel therapies intended to improve quality of life, increase duration of life, and resolve serious unmet medical needs. It will do so by identifying and controlling promising product candidates based on scientific development and administrative expertise, developing its products in a rapid, cost-efficient manner and, pursuing commercialization and/or development partners when and where appropriate.
Pharmacyclics markets IMBRUVICA and has three product candidates in clinical development and several preclinical molecules in lead optimization. The company is committed to high standards of ethics, scientific rigor, and operational efficiency as it moves each of these programs to commercialization. Pharmacyclics is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA. To learn more, visit www.pharmacyclics.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
NOTE: This announcement may contain forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements, among others, relating to our future capital requirements, including our expected liquidity position and timing of the receipt of certain milestone payments, and the sufficiency of our current assets to meet these requirements, our future results of operations, our expectations for and timing of ongoing or future clinical trials and regulatory approvals for any of our product candidates, and our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Because these statements apply to future events, they are subject to risks and uncertainties. When used in this announcement, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "expectation", "goal", "should", "would", "project", "plan", "predict", "intend", "target" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to us and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, expected liquidity or achievements to differ materially from those projected in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include, without limitation, our need for substantial additional financing and the availability and terms of any such financing, the safety and/or efficacy results of clinical trials of our product candidates, our failure to obtain regulatory approvals or comply with ongoing governmental regulation, our ability to commercialize, manufacture and achieve market acceptance of any of our product candidates, for which we rely heavily on collaboration with third parties, and our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and to operate without infringing upon the proprietary rights of third parties. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements and no assurance can be given that the actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. For more information about the risks and uncertainties that may affect our results, please see the Risk Factors section of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our transition report on Form 10-K for the six month period ended December 31, 2012 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this announcement to conform these statements to actual results, to changes in management's expectations or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
IMBRUVICA is a registered trademark of Pharmacyclics, Inc.
GAZYVA is a registered trademark of Genentech, Inc.
SOURCE Pharmacyclics, Inc.