Oral arsenic trioxide ORH-2014 pharmacokinetic and safety profile in patients with advanced hematologic disorders.

Daily intravenous arsenic trioxide administered with all-trans retinoid acid, the standard-of-care for acute promyelocytic leukemia, is costly and challenging to administer. ORH-2014 is a novel, oral arsenic trioxide formulation, consisting of micron-size drug particles with rapid dissolution and high bioavailability. We conducted a multicenter phase 1 dose-escalating study in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. Twelve patients received ORH-2014 at 5 mg (n=3), 10 mg (n=6), or 15 mg (n=3) orally once a day (fasted state). Objectives were to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of ORH-2014 to support a dose recommendation for future trials. The median age of the patients was 77 years (range: 45-81) and they had received a median of two (range: 1-5) prior therapies. There were no dose limiting toxicities and no drug-related severe adverse events, except one grade III QT prolongation occurring beyond the dose limiting toxicity assessment period and resolving after treatment interruption. ORH-2014 steady-state plasma concentration was reached on day 15. ORH-2014, 15 mg Cmax was comparable to the calculated approved dose of intravenous arsenic trioxide (mean [% coefficient of variation]: 114 [21%] vs 124 [60%] ng/mL) and area under the curve from 0 to 24 hours was 2,140 (36%) versus 1,302 (30%) h*ng/mL. These results indicate that ORH-2014 at 15 mg is safe, bioavailable, and provides the required arsenic exposure compared to intravenous arsenic trioxide at the approved dose (0.15 mg/kg); this ORH-2014 dose is recommended for future trials. (NCT03048344; www.clin-icaltrials.gov).

Statistical considerations in biosimilar clinical efficacy trials with asymmetrical margins.

Development of biosimilars to innovative therapeutic biologics promises reduction of healthcare cost and therefore will provide patients worldwide greater access to effective treatments. Because of the differences in raw materials or manufacturing processes, 'equivalence' of bioavailability between a biosimilar and the reference biologic is generally regarded as insufficient, and thus, clinical trials providing efficacy and safety data are often required by regulatory agencies. The traditional non-inferiority trial design may not be accepted for establishing biosimilarity in order to avoid superior efficacy with additional safety (e.g., immunogenicity) risks. On the other hand, the bioequivalence trial design, which is used in the generic paradigm for the evaluation of bioavailability of generic chemical drugs, is not appropriate for evaluating clinical efficacy because the equivalence margins are generally too wide and not justified on statistical or clinical grounds. Motivated by the World Health Organization guideline and the newly released Food and Drug Administration draft guideline on biosimilars, we propose a biosimilarity trial design for evaluating clinical efficacy. The design uses a non-inferiority margin and an asymmetrical non-superiority margin for statistical inference. The independent choice of both margins provides the scientific foundation for drawing clinical efficacy conclusions while maintaining the logical consistency of the inference. The design also has a higher statistical power than a naïve equivalence trial design.

A phase Ib and pharmacokinetic trial of patupilone combined with carboplatin in patients with advanced cancer.

PURPOSE: Patupilone is a microtubule-targeting chemotherapeutic agent with clinical activity in a broad range of taxane-sensitive/resistant tumor types. The present phase Ib study examined the safety/tolerability and pharmacokinetics of patupilone in combination with carboplatin in patients with advanced solid tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Patients with advanced cancer received patupilone via a 5- to 10-min i.v. infusion at doses of 3.6 to 6.0 mg/m(2) q3w, immediately followed by carboplatin area under the curve (AUC) 5 or 6 mg/mL/min. RESULTS: Of the 37 patients enrolled, the majority previously received taxanes (81%) and/or platinum-containing drugs (97.3%). The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of patupilone with carboplatin AUC 6 was 4.8 mg/m(2); additional patients were enrolled to consolidate experience at this dose. Of the 22 patients who received the MTD, the most common nonhematologic adverse events were fatigue in six (27.3%) and diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and neuropathy in one each (4.5%; all grade 3); hematologic toxicities included two patients (9.1%) with grade 3 neutropenia. The pharmacokinetics of patupilone were similar to those in a previous study of patupilone monotherapy. Of the 26 patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, tumor response was assessable by response evaluation criteria in solid tumors in 17; 1 patient (6%) achieved a complete response, and 10 (59%) achieved a partial response. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of patupilone 4.8 mg/m(2)/carboplatin AUC 6 was well tolerated and showed antitumor activity similar to established regimens in patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. The optimal dose for this regimen is currently being further refined in phase II trials.

Effects of patupilone (epothilone B; EPO906), a novel chemotherapeutic agent, in hepatocellular carcinoma: an in vitro study.

PURPOSE: In this study, the cytotoxic effects of patupilone (epothilone B; EPO906) were assessed in a panel of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, and were compared with doxorubicin and the microtubule-stabilizing taxanes. METHODS: The following HCC cell lines were used: PLC/PRF/5, HepG2, Hep3B, SNU-387, SNU-398, SNU-423, SNU-449, and SNU-475. Cells were treated with various concentrations of patupilone, paclitaxel, docetaxel, or doxorubicin for 72 h; 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)) were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay. P-glycoprotein expression was assessed using standard Western blotting techniques. RESULTS: Patupilone was found to be the most potent drug in all 8 HCC cell lines. All cell lines except SNU-449 were 4- to19-fold more sensitive to patupilone than to paclitaxel and docetaxel, and 59- to 208-fold more sensitive than to doxorubicin. SNU-449, the most resistant cell line and the only one overexpressing P-glycoprotein, was 3- to 39-fold more resistant to paclitaxel, docetaxel, and doxorubicin than were other cell lines. The IC(50) of patupilone in SNU-449 was 1.14 nmol, which was 108- to 529-fold lower than those of the other agents. CONCLUSION: Patupilone was more potent than taxanes and doxorubicin in HCC cell lines and may result in reduced clinical resistance by overcoming P-glycoprotein overexpression. A clinical study in HCC is warranted.

Safety and efficacy of patupilone in patients with advanced ovarian, primary fallopian, or primary peritoneal cancer: a phase I, open-label, dose-escalation study.

PURPOSE To evaluate the safety, maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and pharmacokinetics of patupilone administered once every 3 weeks with proactive standardized diarrhea management in patients with resistant or refractory ovarian, fallopian, or peritoneal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients received patupilone (6.5 to 11.0 mg/m(2)) every 3 weeks via 20-minute infusion. Adverse events, dose-limiting toxicities (DLT), MTD, and tumor response were determined. The tumor response was measured by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) and cancer antigen 125 levels. Results Forty-five patients were enrolled. Adverse events were mild to moderate in intensity, and grade 3 diarrhea (13%) was the most commonly reported serious adverse event. Grade 3 peripheral neuropathy was noted in two patients (4%). Diarrhea, peripheral neuropathy, and fatigue were the most common DLTs; however, these were uncommon in the first cycle and the MTD was therefore not reached in this study. Overall response (OR; complete and partial responses; median cycles, 8) per RECIST in patients with measurable disease (n = 36) was 19.5%. Median duration of disease stabilization (complete and partial responses and stable disease) was 15.8 months. These results appear improved from a previous study in a similar patient population using a weekly schedule (2.5 mg/m(2)/week; N = 53; OR, 5.7%). CONCLUSION Patupilone once every 3 weeks was well-tolerated at doses up to 11.0 mg/m(2). Patupilone demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with drug-resistant/refractory disease. An ongoing phase III study in this patient population is testing the 10.0 mg/m(2) dose.

Phase 1 trial of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies.

Proteasome inhibitors, a novel class of chemotherapeutic agents, enhance the antitumor efficacy of anthracyclines in vitro and in vivo. We therefore sought to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose-limiting toxicities of bortezomib and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PegLD). Bortezomib was given on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 from 0.90 to 1.50 mg/m2 and PegLD on day 4 at 30 mg/m2 to 42 patients with advanced hematologic malignancies. Grade 3 or 4 toxicities in at least 10% of patients included thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, neutropenia, fatigue, pneumonia, peripheral neuropathy, febrile neutropenia, and diarrhea. The MTD based on cycle 1 was 1.50 and 30 mg/m2 of bortezomib and PegLD, respectively. However, due to frequent dose reductions and delays at this level, 1.30 and 30 mg/m2 are recommended for further study. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies did not find significant drug interactions between these agents. Antitumor activity was seen against multiple myeloma, with 8 of 22 evaluable patients having a complete response (CR) or near-CR, including several with anthracycline-refractory disease, and another 8 having partial responses (PRs). One patient with relapsed/refractory T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) achieved a CR, whereas 2 patients each with acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell NHL had PRs. Bortezomib/PegLD was safely administered in this study with promising antitumor activity, supporting further testing of this regimen.