ABP 215 Displays Clinical Similarity to Bevacizumab for Patients With Non-squamous NSCLC

Biosimilar candidate ABP 215, an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor A (anti-VEGF) antibody, may be clinically interchangeable with bevacizumab for treatment of non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study presented at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.¹

Researchers enrolled 642 patients to this randomized, active-controlled phase 3 study, in which 328 patients were assigned to the ABP 215 cohort; 314 were assigned to receive bevacizumab. All enrolled patients were also receiving first-line chemotherapy for non-squamous NSCLC.

The pre-specified objective response rate was met by 128 (39%) patients in the ABP 215 group, compared to 131 (41.7%) patients randomized to receive bevacizumab. A comparable percentage of patients–18.8% and 17.2%–discontinued treatment due to adverse events from ABP 215 and bevacizumab, respectively.

The authors concluded that ABP 215 demonstrated clinical similarity to bevacizumab for treatment of non-squamous NSCLC. Safety profiles in the drugs were also similar; common adverse events included alopecia, nausea, neutropenia, peripheral neuropathy, and hypertension.

Reference

1. Thatcher N, Thomas M, Paz-Ares L, Ostoros G, Pan Z, Goldschmidt JH, et al. Randomized, double-blind, phase 3 study evaluating efficacy and safety of ABP 215 compared with bevacizumab in patients with non-squamous NSCLC. J Clin Oncol. 2016; 34 (suppl; abstr 9095).