FDA approves Akeega, the first-and-only dual action tablet for the treatment of patients with BRCA-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer – Janssen

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced that the FDA has approved Akeega (niraparib and abiraterone acetate), the first-and-only dual action tablet combining a PARP inhibitor with abiraterone acetate, given with prednisone, for the treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA-positive mCRPC, as detected by an FDA-approved test.

“As a physician, identifying patients with a worse prognosis is a priority, especially those whose cancers have a BRCA mutation,” said Kim Chi, M.D., Medical Oncologist at BC Cancer – Vancouver and principal investigator of the Phase III MAGNITUDE study. “We prospectively designed the MAGNITUDE study to identify the subset of patients most likely to benefit from targeted treatment with Akeega and to help us understand how we can potentially achieve better health outcomes for patients.”

“The approval of Akeega brings an important treatment option to patients with prostate cancer as they consider their road ahead, and it also highlights the importance of genetic testing and precision medicine for this disease,” said Shelby Moneer, MS, CHES Vice President of Patient Programs and Education, ZERO Prostate Cancer. “All individuals diagnosed with prostate cancer should consider genetic testing, especially those from racial and ethnic minority groups who tend to have worse cancer outcomes. This is imperative to close the racial and ethnic disparities in prostate cancer health outcomes.”

The FDA approval is based on positive results from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multi-center Phase III MAGNITUDE study. In BRCA-positive patients treated with the combination Akeega plus prednisone, a statistically significant 47 percent risk reduction was observed for radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) (Hazard ratio [HR], 0.53; p=0.001). At the second interim analysis (IA2), with median follow-up at 24.8 months in the BRCA-positive subgroup, rPFS by central review demonstrated a consistent trend favoring Akeega plus prednisone, with a median rPFS of 19.5 months compared with 10.9 months for placebo and AAP (HR, 0.55 [95 percent confidence interval (CI), 0.39-0.78]). Additionally, there was an observed improvement in the secondary endpoints of time to symptomatic progression (TSP) (HR, 0.54 [95 percent CI, 0.35-0.85]) and time to initiation of cytotoxic chemotherapy (TCC) (HR, 0.56 [95 percent CI, 0.35-0.90]) for Akeega plus prednisone compared with AAP alone, supported by a trend towards improvement in overall survival (OS) (HR, 0.88 [95 percent CI, 0.58-1.34]).

The observed safety profile of the combination of Akeega plus prednisone was consistent with the known safety profile of each FDA-approved monotherapy. Of the patients in the MAGNITUDE study with a BRCA gene alteration, 41 percent who received Akeega experienced a serious adverse event (AE). The most common AEs occurring in 20 percent or more of patients who received Akeega plus prednisone versus patients who received placebo and AAP were musculoskeletal pain (44 percent vs. 42 percent, respectively), fatigue (43 percent vs. 30 percent), constipation (34 percent vs. 20 percent), hypertension (33 percent vs. 27 percent) and nausea (33 percent vs. 21 percent). Permanent discontinuation of any component of Akeega due to an adverse reaction occurred in 15 percent of patients.

In April 2016, Janssen Biotech, Inc. entered a worldwide (except Japan) collaboration and license agreement with Tesaro, Inc. (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline [GSK] in 2019) for exclusive rights to niraparib in prostate cancer.