Effect of QVA149 on lung volumes and exercise tolerance in COPD patients: the BRIGHT study.

INTRODUCTION: QVA149 is a novel, inhaled, once-daily dual bronchodilator containing a fixed-dose combination of the long-acting ß2-agonist indacaterol and the long-acting muscarinic antagonist glycopyrronium (NVA237), for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study evaluated the effects of QVA149 on exercise tolerance, hyperinflation, lung function and lung volumes versus placebo and tiotropium. METHODS: Patients with moderate-to-severe COPD were randomized to QVA149 110/50 µg, placebo or tiotropium 18 µg once daily in a blinded, 3-period crossover study for 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was exercise endurance time at Day 21 for QVA149 versus placebo. RESULTS: Eighty-five patients were randomized; 86% completed the study. QVA149 significantly improved exercise endurance time at Day 21 compared with placebo (least squares mean treatment difference 60 s [p = 0.006]). No significant improvements in exercise endurance time at Day 21 between QVA149 and tiotropium were found. Dynamic inspiratory capacity (IC) at exercise isotime, trough forced expiratory volume in 1 s, residual volume and functional residual capacity showed significant improvements with QVA149 from Day 1 of treatment that were maintained throughout the study. The safety profiles were similar across groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, once-daily QVA149 significantly improved exercise endurance time compared with placebo which was associated with sustained reductions of lung hyperinflation as indicated by significant improvement in IC at rest and during exercise. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01294787. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Dual bronchodilation with QVA149 decreases lung hyperinflation and improves exercise tolerance and lung function in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.

Efficacy and safety of QVA149 compared to the concurrent administration of its monocomponents indacaterol and glycopyrronium: the BEACON study.

INTRODUCTION: The BEACON study evaluated the efficacy and safety of QVA149, a once-daily dual bronchodilator containing a fixed-dose combination of the long-acting ß2-agonist (LABA) indacaterol and long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) glycopyrronium (NVA237), in development for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), compared with the free-dose concurrent administration of indacaterol plus glycopyrronium (IND+GLY). METHODS: In this multicenter, double-blind, parallel group study, patients with stage II or stage III COPD (Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease [GOLD] 2010) were randomized (1:1) to once-daily QVA149 (110 µg indacaterol/50 µg glycopyrronium) or concurrent administration of indacaterol (150 µg) and glycopyrronium (50 µg) via the Breezhaler® device (Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland) for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the noninferiority of QVA149 as compared with concurrent administration of IND+GLY, for trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) after 4 weeks of treatment. The other assessments included FEV1 area under the curve from 0 to 4 hours (AUC0-4 hours) at day 1 and week 4, symptom scores, rescue medication use, safety, and tolerability over the 4-week study period. RESULTS: Of 193 patients randomized, 187 (96.9%) completed the study.Trough FEV1 at week 4 for QVA149 and IND+GLY was 1.5 L ± 0.02 [DOSAGE ERROR CORRECTED] and 1.46 L ± 0.18, respectively. The FEV1 AUC0-4 hours at day 1 and week 4 were similar between the two treatment groups. Both treatment groups had a similar reduction in symptom scores and rescue medication use for the 4-week treatment period. Overall, 25.6% of patients in QVA149 group and 25.2% in the IND+GLY group experienced an adverse event, with the majority being mild-to-moderate in severity. No deaths were reported during the study or during the 30 days follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The BEACON study demonstrated that once-daily QVA149 provides an efficacy and safety profile similar to the concurrent administration of its monocomponents indacaterol and glycopyrronium.

Delivery characteristics and patients' handling of two single-dose dry-powder inhalers used in COPD.

For optimal efficacy, an inhaler should deliver doses consistently and be easy for patients to use with minimal instruction. The delivery characteristics, patients' correct use, and preference of two single-dose dry powder inhalers (Breezhaler and HandiHaler) were evaluated in two complementary studies. The first study examined aerodynamic particle size distribution, using inhalation profiles of seven patients with moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The second was an open-label, two-period, 7-day crossover study, evaluating use of the inhalers with placebo capsules by 82 patients with mild to severe COPD. Patients' correct use of the inhalers was assessed after reading written instructions on Day 1, and after training and 7 days of daily use. Patients' preference was assessed after completion of both study periods. Patient inhalation profiles showed average peak inspiratory flows of 72 L/minute through Breezhaler and 36 L/minute through HandiHaler. For Breezhaler and HandiHaler, fine particle fractions were 27% and 10%, respectively. In the second study, correct use of Breezhaler and HandiHaler was achieved by > 77% of patients for any step after 7 days; 61% of patients showed an overall preference for Breezhaler and 31% for HandiHaler (P = 0.01).Breezhaler is a low-resistance inhaler suitable for use by patients with a range of disease severities. Most patients used both inhalers correctly after 7 days, but more patients showed an overall preference for the Breezhaler compared with the HandiHaler. These are important factors for optimum dose delivery and successful COPD management.

A phase I pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of TKI258, an oral, multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor in patients with advanced solid tumors.

PURPOSE: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) dose-limiting toxicity, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of TKI258 (formerly CHIR-258). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A phase I dose escalating trial in patients with advanced solid tumors was performed. Treatment was initially as single daily doses on an intermittent 7-day on/7-day off schedule. Following a protocol amendment, a second schedule comprised, during cycle 1, 7-day on/7-day off treatment followed by 14 days of continuous daily dosing; subsequent cycles comprised 28 days of daily dosing. Pharmacokinetics and evaluation of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were done during the first 28 days of each schedule. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients were treated in four intermittent (25-100 mg/d) and three continuous (100-175 mg/d) dosing cohorts. Observed drug-related toxicities were nausea and vomiting, fatigue, headache, anorexia, and diarrhea. Dose-limiting toxicities were grade 3 hypertension in one patient at 100 mg continuous dosing, grade 3 anorexia in a second patient at 175 mg, and grade 3 alkaline phosphatase elevation in a third patient at 175 mg. One patient had a partial response (melanoma) and two patients had stable disease >6 months. TKI258 pharmacokinetics were linear over the dose range of 25 to 175 mg. Five of 14 evaluable patients had modulation of phosphorylated ERK levels. CONCLUSIONS: The MTD was defined as 125 mg/d. Evidence of antitumor activity in melanoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors warrants further investigation, and other phase I studies are ongoing. Further pharmacodynamic evaluation is required in these studies to evaluate the biological effects of TKI258.

Phase I and pharmacodynamic trial of the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor decitabine and carboplatin in solid tumors.

PURPOSE: The DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (decitabine) induces DNA demethylation and re-expression of epigenetically silenced genes, and increases carboplatin sensitivity of tumor xenograft models. We designed a clinical study to determine the feasibility of delivering a dose of decitabine, combined with carboplatin, that would be capable of producing equivalent biologic effects in patients with solid tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a two-stage design, 33 patients received escalating doses of decitabine administered as a 6-hour infusion on day 1 followed by carboplatin, area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) 5 (cohort 1) and AUC 6 (cohort 2), on day 8 of a 28-day cycle. Pharmacodynamic analyses included 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine levels, MAGE1A CpG island methylation, and fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression. RESULTS: The major toxicity was myelosuppression. Dose limiting toxicities, prolonged grade 4 neutropenia (one patient), and sepsis and grade 3 anorexia/fatigue (one patient), were seen in two of four patients treated with decitabine 135 mg/m2 and carboplatin AUC 5. Dose limiting toxicity comprising neutropenic sepsis (one patient) and grade 3 fatigue (one patient) was seen in two of 10 patients treated at decitabine 90 mg/m2 and carboplatin AUC 6. Decitabine induced dose-dependent, reversible demethylation in peripheral-blood cells (PBCs) maximally at day 10. Furthermore, decitabine 90 mg/m2 induced demethylation of the MAGE1A CpG island in PBCs, buccal cells, and tumor biopsies, as well as elevation of HbF expression. CONCLUSION: Decitabine can be combined safely with carboplatin at a dose and schedule that causes epigenetic changes equivalent to or greater than that observed in mice with carboplatin-sensitized xenografts. The recommended dose/schedule for phase II trials is decitabine 90 mg/m2 (day 1) followed by carboplatin AUC 6 (day 8) every 28 days.

Incidence of MLL rearrangement in acute myeloid leukemia, and a CALM-AF10 fusion in M4 type acute myeloblastic leukemia.

To determine the incidence of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangements in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) without cytogenetically-detected 11q23 abnormalities, we screened 64 cases of AML at diagnosis for MLL rearrangement by FISH. Three cases (4.7%) had a MLL rearrangement detected; one was shown to have a cryptic t(11;22)(q23;q11) and another to have a t(9;11)(p21-22;q23) which had been missed by the conventional cytogenetic study. No 11q23 structural abnormality was visible in the third case. Twenty-six of the 64 cases were further studied by Southern blotting and DNA hybridization, and four of these cases (15%) were found to have MLL rearrangement: in three of these, FISH had not detected any abnormality. FISH was also used to confirm MLL involvement in eight cases of AML that had a cytogenetic abnormality at 11q23; in one of these, Southern blot did not show a rearrangement. The survival of patients with MLL abnormalities identified by cytogenetics, FISH and/or DNA analysis was significantly worse than that of patients without MLL abnormalities (event-free survival p = 0.016) although two patients with a t(9;11)(p21-22;q23) were long-term survivors, consistent with this particular translocation having a better prognosis. One further case with a cytogenetic abnormality close to 11q23 was studied; it was found to have a t(10;11)(p13;q21), and the breakpoints were shown by FISH to involve the Clathrin Assembly Lymphoid Myeloid (CALM) gene at 11q21 and the AF10 gene at 10p13. Our data confirm the value of combining cytogenetic, FISH and molecular analyses to define the incidence and precise nature of MLL and 11q23 abnormalities in AML.