TESARO Says Achieve Primary And All Secondary Endpoints In Rolapitant Trial

(RTTNews) - TESARO Inc. (TSRO) announced positive top-line results from the third and final Phase 3 trial of rolapitant, an investigational neurokinin-1 or NK-1 receptor antagonist in development for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV).

The rolapitant arm in this trial, which enrolled patients receiving cisplatin-based, highly emetogenic chemotherapy or HEC, successfully achieved statistical significance over the standard therapy arm for the primary and all secondary endpoints. The adverse event profile for rolapitant remains consistent with that seen in previous clinical studies.

The third Phase 3 study of rolapitant was an international, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study that enrolled 532 cancer patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens at a dose equal to or greater than 60 mg/m2. Patients were randomized to receive either control, which consisted of a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist plus dexamethasone, or 200 milligrams of oral rolapitant plus control. The rolapitant arm in this study successfully achieved statistical significance over the control arm for the primary endpoint of complete response (CR) in the delayed phase of CINV.

In addition, the rolapitant arm also successfully achieved statistical significance over the control arm for the key secondary endpoints of CR in the acute (0 to 24 hour) and overall (0 to 120 hour) phases of CINV, for the secondary endpoint of no significant nausea, and for all other secondary endpoints.

Safety and tolerability data for patients who received rolapitant were similar to the results for those who received control, and were consistent with earlier clinical studies. The most frequently observed adverse events were balanced across treatment arms and included fatigue, constipation and loss of appetite.

The company noted that preparations continue in support of a submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in mid-2014.

The oral rolapitant NDA will include data from one Phase 3 study in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC), in addition to one Phase 2 and two Phase 3 trials in patients receiving cisplatin-based, highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC), including the trial announced today.

The top-line results of the Phase 3 trial in MEC and the prior Phase 3 trial in HEC were previously announced by TESARO in December 2013.

Rolapitant is an investigational agent and, as such, has not been approved by the U.S. FDA or any regulatory agencies.