So what do you all think? Not a game changer but a real nice spot in the staging process. I wonder what Merck and BMS are thinking. Merck had just gotten their 1st line metastatic indication and then POW, we one up them. I worry that we are too late to the party, but would love to hear what others think.
This is a major win! It will be several years before competition, we are the only IO in a Stage 3 NSCLC, and more read outs this year! We already did 20 million in January and if Mystic OS is positive another positive. Merck, BMS, and Genentech can beat each other up in Stage 4 while we reap the rewards in an unmet need and first and only. We can get 18-24 exclusivity, because how can one justify a similar trial when you already have an approved indication in this disease population. Nice win to AZ....
why don’t you get that excited about actually prolonging patients lives. This is why the public hates you!
Who 'one upped'? This indication requires that patients start on chemo, and Imfinzi can be added IF the patient has not progressed on chemo. Or, do you think Docs will stop chemo in patients who have not progressed, and then change in durvalumab? I assume this will be added onto current chemotherapy. I don't see this as any type of 'one up' as you say, but it is of course good to get FDA approvals.
You don’t know what you are talking about. The course of chemo radiation is standard treatment and then they do nothing. This is a new standard of care for these patients. It’s a very big deal.
Nobody in the medical field believes that AZ can be a major player in Onc. Everything AZ has ever touched turned to a big flaming turd when some other more reputable company matches us. Ask any Onc to name the top 5 Onc companies that they believe are capable of delivering real solutions and AZ will not be on their list.
Well Genius this is a huge accomplishment and just put AZ on the map!!! 18-24 months of exclusivity will bring in millions, so take your negativity elsewhere and go take a flying leap!
Do nothing? Who doesn't know what they are talking about? EGFR's, Tagrisso, PD-1's, and others are being used all the time after initial chemo in metastatic disease. Many are even using these off label in stage III and I know some in stage II using these. Do nothing my ass.
i am very happy this drug was approved and I agree this is certainly a good thing for AZ and patients! Those with stage III lung cancer will now have a great option with this drug. However, AZ is notorious for screwing up opportunities. Time will tell if this investment pays off for AZ.
The other poster is correct and you are ignorant. Yes in stage IV, new therapies are initiated with disease progression if the patient request additional treatment. SOC for stage III is chemo radiation followed by watch and wait. Some of these patients show progression very quickly and move on to additional treatment. Those who don’t show progression can now be treated with Imfinzi to hopefully prevent or delay progression to stage 4. If they achieve additional tumor reduction and have no contraindications for surgery, they may become rescectable. Stage IV is incurable, Stage III still has some hope for cure and that’s a BIG deal. Patients living with locally advanced disease that is stable have a much better QOL than those with distant mets. That is a BIG deal. Finally the use of injectable and oral agents in stage III is very restricted by the lack of payor coverage. Imfinzi will achieve coverage with relative ease. That’s a BIG deal too.
YOU don’t know what you are talking about!!! This is not metastatic Stage IV disease, this is stage III where thenintent is cure but the standard after brief treatment of chemo rad is watch and wait (do nothing)and the outcomes have been terrible. This means a lot to patients. And when you say “EGFRs”, are you reffing to TKI’s because EGFRS are not a treatment, it is a mutation. I know this space is typically designated for people to gripe and botch and complain about AZ, but this is a very, very good thing all the way around.
I recall when Alimta got the very first Maintenance indication for advanced cancers. This indication and PACIFIC data should bode well for AZ.
Given that alimta was used as maintenance after a platinum doublet in stage IV, metastatic disease, and IMFINZI is approved in stage III, non-metastatic disease the median duration of therapy for IMFINZI will be much longer than alimta. READ quote below from Dr. H. Jack West, want a better understanding of the trial, watch the video. If you can't sell this drug in this setting, you need to quit and go to work at Wal Mart. "Though we haven't yet seen a significant overall survival benefit with maintenance durvalumab after chemo/radiation, I believe the very significant and sustained PFS benefit are extremely likely to be associated with an OS benefit at least at 2 and 3 years out, but may or may not lead to more patients cured. If we see no patients cured and patients can do just as well being "rescued" with immunotherapy upon relapse, and we can spare some patients already cured by chemo/radiation to receive prolonged immunotherapy, there won't be a clear benefit to giving everyone immunotherapy automatically. We will need to see the long-term results of the trial and whether long term OS is better from a year of durvalumab. In the meantime, we are left considering whether to change our standard based on PFS alone. I think the potential harm to thousands of patients in the next few years, by withholding a therapy that has a significant chance of improving survival, is greater than any harm that could theoretically come from giving durvalumab based on a tremendous PFS benefit, even if it doesn't improve long-term cure rate. Durvalumab will be my standard of care in this setting while we wait for more mature data from the PACIFIC trial. Please see my video for further thoughts: http://traffic.libsyn.com/force-cdn/ec/beacon/BMIC-024_Durvalumab_Stage_III_NSCLC_Standard.mp4
So how is that stage III non-resectable working for ya? Must be aggravating being the little bro to the big dogs.
