WILMINGTON, DE, USA I February 22, 2021 I Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for Priority Review the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for ruxolitinib (Jakafi®) for treatment of steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older.

The sNDA submission is based on results from the Phase 3, randomized REACH3 study comparing ruxolitinib with best available therapy (BAT) in patients with steroid-refractory chronic GVHD. In the REACH3 study, which was recently presented at the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, patients treated with ruxolitinib experienced a significantly greater overall response rate (ORR) compared to BAT at Week 24, the primary endpoint (49.7% vs. 25.6%; p<0.0001). For the key secondary endpoints, ruxolitinib was associated with a longer median failure-free survival (FFS) than BAT at Week 24 (not reached vs. 5.7 months; hazard ratio (HR), 0.370; p<0.0001), and greater symptom improvement per the modified Lee Symptom Scale (mLSS) at Week 24 (24.2% vs. 11.0%; odds ratio (OR), 2.62; p=0.0011). The best ORR for patients receiving ruxolitinib was 76.4%. No new safety signals were observed, and adverse events were consistent with the known safety profile of ruxolitinib.

“Chronic GVHD is a life-threatening complication following stem cell transplant that burdens a vulnerable patient population, which today has limited treatment options,” said Peter Langmuir, M.D., Group Vice President, Oncology Targeted Therapies, Incyte. “The acceptance of this sNDA represents an important milestone for Incyte as we continue our work towards helping more people living with GVHD, particularly for those who do not respond to steroids. We look forward to working closely with the FDA to bring this innovative therapy to patients and to providing continued support to the GVHD community in the United States.”

GVHD is a condition that can occur after an allogeneic stem cell transplant (the transfer of stem cells from a donor) in which the donated cells initiate an immune response and attack the transplant recipient’s organs, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. There are two major forms of GVHD: acute, which generally occurs within 100 days of transplant, and chronic, which generally occurs after 100 days of transplant1. Both forms can affect multiple organ systems, including the skin, gastrointestinal (digestive) tract and liver.

The FDA grants Priority Review to medicines that may offer a major advance in treatment where none currently exists. This designation shortens the review period to six months compared to 10 months for Standard Review. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date for Jakafi in steroid-refractory chronic GVHD is June 22, 2021.

The sNDA is also being reviewed as part of the Project Orbis program, an initiative of the U.S. FDA Oncology Center of Excellence that provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology drugs among international regulatory agencies. Participating countries for this application include Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil and the United Kingdom.

In 2019, Jakafiwas approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute GVHD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older2.

About REACH3

REACH3 (NCT03112603), a randomized, open-label, multicenter Phase 3 study sponsored by Novartis and conducted in collaboration with and co-funded by Incyte, is evaluating the safety and efficacy of ruxolitinib compared with best available therapy in patients with steroid-refractory chronic GVHD.

The primary endpoint is overall response rate (ORR) at Week 24 (i.e., Cycle 7, Day 1), defined as the percentage of participants demonstrating a complete or partial response. Key secondary endpoints include failure-free survival (FFS) and change in the modified Lee Symptom Scale (mLSS) score at Week 24. Other secondary endpoints include best overall response (BOR), duration of response (DoR), overall survival (OS), and safety. For more information about the study, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03112603.

About REACH

The REACH clinical trial program evaluating ruxolitinib in patients with steroid-refractory GVHD includes the randomized pivotal Phase 3 REACH2 and REACH3 trials, conducted in collaboration with Novartis.

The REACH program was initiated with the Incyte-sponsored REACH1 trial, a prospective, open-label, single-cohort, multicenter, pivotal Phase 2 trial (NCT02953678) evaluating Jakafi in combination with corticosteroids in patients with steroid-refractory grade II-IV acute GVHD. For more information about the study, including trial results, please visit https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02953678.

About Jakafi® (ruxolitinib)

Jakafi is a first-in-class JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of polycythemia vera (PV) in adults who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea, intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis (MF), including primary MF, post-polycythemia vera MF and post-essential thrombocythemia MF in adults, and for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute GVHD in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older.

Jakafi is marketed by Incyte in the United States and by Novartis as Jakavi® (ruxolitinib) outside the United States. Jakafi is a registered trademark of Incyte Corporation. Jakavi is a registered trademark of Novartis AG in countries outside the United States.

About Incyte

Incyte is a Wilmington, Delaware-based, global biopharmaceutical company focused on finding solutions for serious unmet medical needs through the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics. For additional information on Incyte, please visit Incyte.com and follow @Incyte.

1 Ferrara JL., et al. Graft-versus-host disease. Lancet. 2009;373(9674):1550-1561.
2 Jakafi (ruxolitinib) tablets: Prescribing Information. U.S. Food and Drug Administration; January 2020.

SOURCE: Incyte