Novartis' Prostate Cancer Radioligand Therapy Extended Overall Survival by Four Months

Novartis AG NVS has announced results from Phase 3 VISION study evaluating 177Lu-PSMA-617, a targeted radioligand therapy, plus best standard of care (SOC) in patients with progressive PSMA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).
Novartis said it would file for approval for the drug, known as Lu-PSMA-617, in the US and Europe in the second half of 2021 while pushing forward with pivotal studies on earlier-stage patients.
The company first announced the trial hit every endpoint in the Phase 3 trial in March but released no data at the time.
The new study showed that in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who exhausted three lines of therapy, the drug improved median overall survival from 11.3 months to 15.3 months and progression-free survival from 3.4 months to 8.7 months.
It also lengthened the time patients went before suffering a skeletal event — a common symptom of metastatic prostate cancer — from 6.8 months to 11.5 months.
Severe/life-threatening drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 28.4% of the 177Lu-PSMA-617 arm compared to 3.9% in the best standard of care only arm, including some degree of bone compression.
Price Action: NVS shares are up 0.29% at $89.15 during the market session on the last check Thursday.