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Novartis reports durable response for lymphoma in CAR-T trial

Novartis AG said patients who had responded to treatment with Kymriah for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or r/r DLBCL, continued to respond to the drug six months after it was first administered.

Kymriah is the first chimeric antigen receptor T-cell, or CAR-T, therapy, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Among 46 patients with at least six months of follow up after receiving treatment, 30% had a complete response, meaning no detectable sign of cancer, after six months, with a 74% relapse-free rate after onset of response. Another 7% achieved a partial response, the company reported at the American Society of Hematology meeting in Atlanta.

The median duration of response had not been reached, meaning more than half the patients who responded had not experienced disease return or progression.

The results from the Juliet study build upon a pilot study of Kymriah for r/r DLBCL and follicular lymphoma published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which was led by and conducted at the University of Pennsylvania and supported by Novartis and grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as through philanthropic support. Among patients with r/r DLBCL, the study demonstrated an overall response rate and safety profile similar to results seen in the Juliet trial. The study demonstrated sustained remissions at a follow up of 28.6 months among patients who responded at six months.

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DLBCL is the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. If left untreated, refractory or relapsed DLBCL has a life expectancy of three to four months.

Kymriah was found to be cost-effective at its U.S. list price of $475,000, compared to standard of care in relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia according to the company.