– Median Overall Survival Not Reached After 26.5 Month Median Follow-up –

– Data to be Presented at the 17th European Hematology Association Annual Meeting –

CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I June 14, 2012 I Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502), today announced updated survival data from a pivotal Phase II clinical trial of single-agent brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) after autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) showing that the median overall survival has not been reached after a 26.5 month median follow-up. The data will be reported during an oral presentation at the 17th European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting being held June 14-17, 2012 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Brentuximab vedotin is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed to CD30, a defining marker of the majority of types of HL.

“Heavily pretreated Hodgkin lymphoma patients who relapse following autologous stem cell transplant often have a poor prognosis and there is a high unmet medical need for effective treatment options,” said Scott Smith M.D., Ph.D., Loyola University Medical Center. “These updated overall survival results from the pivotal trial are encouraging and suggest that brentuximab vedotin may play an important role in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory disease.”

Long-term Follow-up Results of an Ongoing Pivotal Study of Brentuximab Vedotin in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma

A pivotal trial was conducted in 102 patients with relapsed or refractory HL after ASCT. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) per independent review. The secondary endpoints were complete remission (CR) rate, duration of response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and safety and tolerability. At the time of the long-term follow-up analysis, the median observation time from first dose was 26.5 months. Data, to be presented by Dr. Smith, include:

As previously reported, the ORR was 75 percent (76 of 102 patients), with CRs observed in 33 percent of patients (n=34)
The median OS had not been reached after a 26.5 month median follow-up
The median PFS for all patients was 5.6 months
As previously reported, the most common (≥20 percent) adverse events (AEs) of any grade were peripheral sensory neuropathy (47 percent), fatigue (46 percent), nausea (42 percent), upper respiratory tract infection (37 percent), diarrhea (36 percent), pyrexia (29 percent), neutropenia (22 percent), vomiting (22 percent), and cough (21 percent)
Of the AEs that were reported in ≥20 percent of patients, Grade 3 or higher events included neutropenia (20 percent), peripheral sensory neuropathy (9 percent), fatigue (2 percent), pyrexia (2 percent), and diarrhea (1 percent)

Patients received 1.8 milligrams per kilogram of brentuximab vedotin every 3 weeks as a 30-minute outpatient intravenous infusion for up to 16 cycles. Patients received a median of nine cycles of brentuximab vedotin while on trial. The median age of patients in the pivotal trial was 31 years. Enrolled patients had received a median of 3.5 (range 1–13) prior cancer-related systemic therapies, excluding ASCT. Seventy-one percent of patients had primary refractory disease, defined in the study protocol as patients who relapsed within three months of attaining CR or failed to achieve a CR, and 42 percent had not responded to their most recent prior therapy.

Details of the oral presentation are as follows:

Sunday, June 17; 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM Central European Summer Time (CEST)
Abstract #1109
Oral presentation in Hall 2
First author: Scott Smith M.D., Ph.D., Loyola University Medical Center

About Brentuximab Vedotin

Brentuximab vedotin is an ADC comprising an anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody attached by a protease-cleavable linker to a microtubule disrupting agent, monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), utilizing Seattle Genetics’ proprietary technology. The ADC employs a linker system that is designed to be stable in the bloodstream but to release MMAE upon internalization into CD30-expressing tumor cells.

Brentuximab vedotin is not approved for use outside the United States. The marketing authorization application for brentuximab vedotin in relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and sALCL, filed by Takeda Global Research & Development Centre (Europe), was accepted for review by the European Medicines Agency for review in June 2011.

Millennium and Seattle Genetics (SGEN) are jointly developing brentuximab vedotin. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Seattle Genetics has U.S. and Canadian commercialization rights and the Takeda Group has rights to commercialize brentuximab vedotin in the rest of the world. Seattle Genetics and the Takeda Group are funding joint development costs for brentuximab vedotin on a 50:50 basis, except in Japan where the Takeda Group will be solely responsible for development costs.

About Hodgkin Lymphoma

Lymphoma is a general term for a group of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system. There are two major categories of lymphoma: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Hodgkin lymphoma is distinguished from other types of lymphoma by the presence of one characteristic type of cell, known as the Reed-Sternberg cell. The Reed-Sternberg cell generally expresses CD30.

Globally, there are more than 30,000 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosed each year. Although front-line combination chemotherapy can result in durable response rates, up to 30 percent of these patients relapse or are refractory to front-line treatment and have few therapeutic options beyond ASCT.

About Millennium

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a leading biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Mass., markets VELCADE, a first-in-class proteasome inhibitor, and has a robust clinical development pipeline of product candidates. Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. in May, 2008. The Company’s research, development and commercialization activities are focused in oncology. Additional information about Millennium is available through its website, www.millennium.com.

About Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH

Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH, headquartered in Zurich, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and a leader in the global industry, Takeda’s mission is to strive toward better health for patients worldwide through leading innovation in medicine. It has a commercial presence covering more than 70 countries, with particular strength in Asia, North America, Europe and fast-growing emerging markets including Latin America, Russia-CIS and China. Takeda is ranked 12th by global Rx sales, 14th in the BRIC countries and 18th in Europe. Takeda’s commercial presence mainly covers the therapeutic areas of metabolic diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, cardiovascular health, CNS diseases, inflammatory and immune disorders, respiratory diseases and pain management.

SOURCE: Takeda Pharmaceutical Co