AstraZeneca and Merck reported today, Lynparza (olaparib) has been approved in the US for the adjuvant treatment of patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer who have already been treated with chemotherapy either before or after surgery.

The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was based on results from the OlympiA Phase III trial presented during the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In the trial, Lynparza demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in invasive disease-free survival (iDFS), reducing the risk of invasive breast cancer recurrences, second cancers or death, by 42% versus placebo (based on a hazard ratio [HR] of 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.46-0.74; p<0.0001).

New updated results from the OlympiA trial also showed Lynparza demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the key secondary endpoint of overall survival (OS), reducing the risk of death by 32% versus placebo (based on a HR of 0.68; 95% CI 0.50-0.91; p=0.0091). The safety and tolerability profile of Lynparza in this trial was in line with that observed in prior clinical trials. The OS data will be presented at an upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology virtual plenary on 16 March 2022.

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer worldwide with an estimated 2.3 million patients diagnosed in 2020.2 Almost 91% of all breast cancer patients in the US are diagnosed at an early stage of disease and BRCA mutations are found in approximately 5-10% of patients.3,4

Professor Andrew Tutt, Global Chair of the OlympiA Phase III trial and Professor of Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London and King’s College London, said:

Today’s approval of olaparib is great news for patients with a specific inherited form of breast cancer. Most breast cancers are identified in the early stages and many patients will do very well, but for those with higher risk disease at diagnosis, the risk of cancer returning can be unacceptably high and new treatment options are needed. OlympiA has shown that identifying a BRCA1/2 mutation in women with high risk disease opens the additional option of eligibility for olaparib treatment, which reduces the risk of recurrence and improves survival for these breast cancer patients.

Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said:

This important approval gives early-stage breast cancer patients in the US with a germline BRCA mutation a new targeted therapy option in the adjuvant setting starting today. Lynparza reduces the risk of disease recurrence in these high-risk patients and now new data confirm it also significantly extends patients’ lives versus placebo. These data underline the importance of germline BRCA testing as soon as possible after diagnosis to identify patients that may be eligible for Lynparza.

Roy Baynes, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development, Chief Medical Officer, MSD Research Laboratories, said:

For patients with germline BRCA-mutated, HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer, who often present with more aggressive disease, today’s approval is an important step forward. Compared to placebo, Lynparza as adjuvant treatment offers these patients the potential to live longer without their cancer recurring. We thank the patients, caregivers and healthcare providers for their participation in the OlympiA trial.

Lynparza is now indicated for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious gBRCAm HER2-negative high-risk early breast cancer who have been treated with neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients are to be selected for treatment based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic test for Lynparza.

Lynparza is approved in the US, EU, Japan and several other countries for the treatment of patients with gBRCAm, HER2-negative, metastatic breast cancer previously treated with chemotherapy based on results from the OlympiAD Phase III trial. In the EU, this indication also includes patients with locally advanced breast cancer.