A phase 1 randomized study compare the pharmacokinetics, safety and immunogenicity of HLX04 to reference bevacizumab sourced from the United States, the European Union, and China in healthy Chinese male volunteers.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To compare the pharmacokinetic profiles, safety and immunogenicity of proposed bevacizumab biosimilar HLX04 with reference bevacizumab in healthy Chinese males. METHODS: In this double-blind Phase 1 study, healthy volunteers (N = 208) were randomized 1111 to a single 3 mg/kg intravenous infusion of HLX04 or reference bevacizumab sourced from the United States (bevacizumab-US), the European Union (bevacizumab-EU) or China (bevacizumab-CN). Co-primary endpoints were area under the serum concentration-time profile (AUC) from time zero extrapolated to infinity (AUC0-inf) and from zero to last quantifiable concentration (AUClast). Secondary endpoint was the maximum serum drug concentration (Cmax). Study participants were monitored for treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and samples were collected for anti-drug antibody (ADA) testing throughout the study. RESULTS: Pharmacokinetic parameters were similar across groups. The respective geometric least-squares mean ratios (GLSMR) of AUC0-inf, AUClast and Cmax were 95.7%, 96.0% and 101.8% for HLX04 versus bevacizumab-US; 94.3%, 94.6% and 100.5% for HLX04 versus bevacizumab-EU; and 90.0%, 90.4% and 98.2% for HLX04 versus bevacizumab-CN. For all test-to-reference comparisons, two-sided 90% confidence intervals of GLSMR for AUC0-inf, AUClast and Cmax fell in the pre-specified bioequivalence range (80-125%). There were no notable differences in the frequency, nature and/or grade of TEAEs. No deaths were reported and no ADAs were detected during the study. CONCLUSION: HLX04 had similar safety and pharmacokinetic profiles to reference bevacizumab in healthy Chinese males, supporting the confirmatory Phase 3 study investigating the efficacy and safety equivalence between HLX04 and bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (NCT03511963). CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION The study was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03483649.