AstraZeneca's cancer drug Calquence on par with J&J-AbbVie's Imbruvica in trial

AstraZeneca PLC's Calquence was as effective as Johnson & Johnson's Imbruvica in delaying the progression of a type of blood cancer in a late-stage study.

Calquence, or acalabrutinib, met the main goal of the phase 3 trial, dubbed Elevate-RR, by showing that the drug was as effective as Imbruvica, or ibrutinib, at improving how long adults with previously treated, high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, lived without their disease worsening.

Calquence and Imbruvica — developed by North Chicago, Ill.-based AbbVie Inc. and New Brunswick, N.J.-based pharma giant J&J — are both approved in various countries to treat certain types of blood cancers, including CLL, where the bone marrow produces too many white blood cells known as lymphocytes. The drugs work by inhibiting Bruton's tyrosine kinase protein, which is believed to play a role in certain types of blood cancers.

The trial also met its secondary goal for safety by showing that patients receiving Calquence had a statistically significant lower incidence of atrial fibrillation — irregular and often rapid heart rate — compared to patients on Imbruvica, AstraZeneca said in a news release Jan. 25, the same day Calquence received Japanese approval for CLL.

The safety and tolerability of Calquence in the study was consistent with earlier trials, Cambridge, U.K.-based AstraZeneca said.

Calquence had a relatively encouraging launch since its U.S. approval for CLL in November 2019, despite the dominant position of Imbruvica in the space, Barclays said in a Jan. 25 note. The new data should help AstraZeneca further expand the drug's labeling, which would enable the company to promote the drug on this safety advantage in relatively short order, added Barclays, which predicted 2025 sales of $2.55 billion.

For the first nine months of 2020, Imbruvica generated about $3.89 billion in net revenue, while Calquence produced revenue of $340 million, $145 million of which came in the third quarter of 2020.

Calquence was also being explored by the U.K.-based pharma giant to treat COVID-19, but the drug failed to improve the survival of certain patients in two mid-stage studies.