(Reuters) – Eli Lilly’s approved blood cancer therapy Jaypirca helped delay progression of the disease in previously untreated patients in a late-stage study, advancing it as a potential first-line treatment option. A further analysis measuring overall survival rates, another key measure of efficacy, is planned next year. While data in the trial for this secondary […]
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Lilly’s blood cancer drug shows promise in trial as early treatment
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(Reuters) – Eli Lilly’s approved blood cancer therapy Jaypirca helped delay progression of the disease in previously untreated patients in a late-stage study, advancing it as a potential first-line treatment option.
A further analysis measuring overall survival rates, another key measure of efficacy, is planned next year. While data in the trial for this secondary goal was not mature yet, it was trending in favor of the treatment being superior to chemoimmunotherapy, the U.S. drugmaker said on Monday.
Lilly is banking on therapies, such as Jaypirca and breast cancer drug Verzenio, and other promising candidates to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing but competitive cancer treatments market.
The company said the drug’s position as a first or second treatment option would also depend on prescribing doctors.
“I think, for Lilly, for the business – we can make this a really big and important product either way,” said Jacob Van Naarden, president of Lilly Oncology, at a healthcare conference.
Jaypirca was tested in patients with a type of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), characterized by an increased production of abnormal white blood cells that have difficulty fighting infections.
In the study, 282 patients were randomly chosen to receive Jaypirca or chemoimmunotherapy, Lilly said.
Earlier this year, Jaypirca was shown to be more effective in a head-to-head study against AbbVie’s top-selling cancer drug Imbruvica. Both the treatments target a type of protein called Bruton’s tyrosine kinase.
Lilly said on Monday data from the studies would form the basis to seek label expansions in earlier lines of therapy and global regulatory submissions will begin later this year.
Jaypirca, which recorded $337 million in sales in 2024, has accelerated approval for patients with CLL/SLL and mantle-cell lymphoma, a rare type of blood cancer, who have had at least two lines of therapy.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)