Wednesday, March 01, 2023
The European Commission has granted marketing authorisation in the European Union (EU) for Nubeqa™ (darolutamide), an oral androgen receptor inhibitor (ARi), plus androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in combination with docetaxel, for the treatment of patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC). Nubeqa is already approved for the treatment of patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC), who are at high risk of developing metastatic disease.
This approval of Nubeqa represents a significant milestone in addressing unmet medical needs for people living with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer in Europe.
The EU approval is based on the positive results from the Phase III ARASENS trial, which demonstrated that darolutamide plus ADT in combination with docetaxel significantly reduced the risk of death by 32.5% compared to ADT with docetaxel, in patients with mHSPC. Additionally, the darolutamide combination showed consistent benefits across clinically relevant secondary endpoints, with the overall incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events being similar between treatment arms.
Nubeqa™ (darolutamide) is an oral androgen receptor inhibitor (ARi) with a distinct chemical structure that binds to the receptor with high affinity and exhibits strong antagonistic activity, thereby inhibiting the receptor function and the growth of prostate cancer cells. The low potential for blood-brain barrier penetration for darolutamide is supported by preclinical models and neuroimaging data in healthy humans. This is supported by the overall low incidence of central nervous system (CNS)-related adverse events (AEs) compared to placebo as seen in the ARAMIS Phase III trial and the improved verbal learning and memory observed in the darolutamide arm of the Phase II ODENZA trial.
