Zai Lab recently announced that China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved the Biologics License Application (BLA) for TIVDAK (tisotumab vedotin for injection) for the treatment of adult patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy. This approval is based on results from the global, randomised, phase 3 innovaTV 301 clinical trial, which met its primary endpoint, demonstrating Overall Survival (OS) benefit in adult patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer treated with TIVDAK compared to chemotherapy, including in an exploratory subpopulation of patients in China.

The NMPA approval follows regulatory approvals in the US, Japan, European Union, UK, Macau (China), and Hong Kong (China), underscoring the broad global clinical evidence supporting TIVDAK availability in China. The indication statement for TIVDAK differs slightly by region.

Rafael G. Amado, MD, President and Head of Global Research and Development, Zai Lab, said, “Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer death in women in China. Antibody Drug Conjugates have proven to be novel and effective treatments for many types of cancer, and we are pleased to bring this innovative therapeutic class to patients in China with cervical cancer. Coupled with the previous global approvals of TIVDAK for this disease, the China BLA approval further validates the robust global evidence of clinical benefit for this population of advanced patients with limited therapeutic options.”

Results from the phase 3 innovaTV 301 clinical trial, including data from the China subpopulation of this study that Zai Lab conducted, supported global approval of TIVDAK.

In the global study, the trial met its primary endpoint of OS in the Intention-To-Treat (ITT) population of the global study (HR=0.70; 95 percent CI: 0.54-0.89; two-sided p=0.0038). The China subpopulation showed consistent results, with a clinically meaningful improvement in OS (HR: 0.55, 95 percent CI: 0.27-1.15), corresponding to a 45 percent reduction in the risk of death compared to chemotherapy.

54.1 percent of the China subpopulation received prior anti-PD(L)1 therapy, the current standard of care for second-line treatment of cervical cancer. TIVDAK showed consistent OS benefit trends irrespective of prior immunotherapy exposure.

There were no new safety signals identified among patients in the China subpopulation who received TIVDAK. The most common Grade ≥3 Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs) in the global study were anemia (8.4 percent), Urinary Tract Infection (4.4 percent), and abdominal pain (4 percent). The most common Grade ≥3 TEAEs in the China subpopulation were anemia (11.4 percent), cough (5.7 percent), and malaise (5.7 percent).

Dr. Lingying Wu, Ph.D., China Leading Principal Investigator of the innovaTV 301 Study and Professor of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology of National Cancer Center / Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said, “Treatment options are very limited for cervical cancer patients once recurrence or metastasis occurs. Consistent with findings from the global innovaTV 301 trial, the China subpopulation data demonstrate that TIVDAK offers significant clinical benefits to these patients, irrespective of prior PD-(L)1 inhibitor therapy.”

Zai Lab will leverage the company’s extensive experience and expanding presence in the Chinese gynecologic oncology community, as well as commercial synergies with its ZEJULA team, to bring TIVDAK to patients in China.