First Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Daiichi Sankyo and Merck’s raludotatug deruxtecan based on phase 1 trial and REJOICE-Ovarian01 phase 2/3 trial
Raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd) has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancers expressing CDH6 who have received prior treatment with bevacizumab.
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Raludotatug deruxtecan is a specifically engineered, potential first-in-class CDH6 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) and being jointly developed by Daiichi Sankyo and Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada.
The FDA BTD is designed to accelerate the development and regulatory review of potential new medicines that are intended to treat a serious condition and address a significant unmet medical need. The medicine is required to have shown encouraging preliminary clinical results that demonstrate substantial improvement on a clinically significant endpoint over currently available medicines.
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The FDA granted this BTD based on data from a phase 1 trial and the ongoing REJOICE-Ovarian01 phase 2/3 trial. A subgroup analysis of the phase 1 trial was presented at the 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology meeting (#ESMO23). Subsequent subgroup analyses of the phase 1 trial were presented at the 2024 Society for Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer and the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology Gynaecological Cancers Congress. This is the first BTD for raludotatug deruxtecan and represents the second BTD since the start of the Daiichi Sankyo and Merck collaboration.
“Patients have limited treatment options once ovarian cancer becomes resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy, highlighting the urgent need for new medicines that can improve patient outcomes,” said Ken Takeshita, MD, Global Head, R&D, Daiichi Sankyo. “The receipt of Breakthrough Therapy Designation represents an important step forward in our efforts to advance raludotatug deruxtecan as a novel medicine for patients with CDH6 expressing platinum-resistant ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancers previously treated with bevacizumab.”
“The FDA’s Breakthrough Designation is a reflection of our commitment to advancing research for patients impacted by women’s cancers,” said Eliav Barr, MD, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer, Merck Research Laboratories. “Raludotatug deruxtecan has the potential to one day become an important option for the treatment of patients with CDH6 expressing platinum-resistant ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancers previously treated with bevacizumab, and we are excited to share data from REJOICE-Ovarian01 with the scientific community at an upcoming medical meeting and to continue working closely with the FDA.”
About Ovarian Cancer
More than 324,000 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer worldwide in 2022. The median overall survival for advanced ovarian cancer following recurrence can be as little as two years, with a five-year survival rate of 31.8% for those with distant stage disease.
The introduction of targeted therapies has expanded treatment options and improved survival outcomes for some patients with ovarian cancer, but additional options are needed for patients with tumors that progress on available medicines. Between 70% and 80% of patients diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer will experience disease progression following standard treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy regimens. For patients who develop platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, defined as disease progression less than six months after completion of last platinum-based chemotherapy, prognosis is particularly poor and treatment options are limited.
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Source – businesswire
