Eli Lilly Receive Second FDA Approval For Blood Cancer Drug

Eli Lilly and Company have announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib, 100 mg & 50 mg tablets) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukeamia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) who have received at least two prior lines of therapy, including a Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor and a BCL-2 inhibitor. Jaypirca was approved under the FDA's Accelerated Approval pathway based on overall response rate (ORR) and duration of response (DOR) from the open-label, single-arm, multicohort, international, Phase 1/2 BRUIN trial. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.

Jaypirca, the first and only FDA-approved non-covalent (reversible) BTK inhibitor, is a highly selective kinase inhibitor that can extend the benefit of targeting the BTK pathway in CLL/SLL patients previously treated with a covalent BTK inhibitor (ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, or zanubrutinib) and a BCL-2 inhibitor. Jaypirca utilises a novel binding mechanism and has the largest body of evidence of any targeted therapy in patients previously treated with a BTK inhibitor.

"Once patients with CLL or SLL have progressed on covalent BTK inhibitor and BCL-2 inhibitor therapies, treatments are limited and outcomes can be poor, making the approval of Jaypirca a meaningful advance and much-needed new treatment option for these patients," said William G. Wierda, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medical director, and CLL section head for the Department of Leukaemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre. "Jaypirca offers a new treatment option and different approach to targeting BTK, providing clinical benefit for a high proportion of patients with CLL or SLL in the BRUIN Phase 1/2 trial whose disease progressed following treatment with a covalent BTK inhibitor and with a BCL-2 inhibitor."

The labeling for Jaypirca contains warnings and precautions for infections, hemorrhage, cytopenias, cardiac arrhythmias, second primary malignancies, and embryo-fetal toxicity. See Important Safety Information below and full Prescribing Information for additional information, including dosing modifications.

"This FDA approval — the second for Jaypirca in 2023 — underscores the impactful clinical benefit of continuing to leverage the BTK pathway with Jaypirca for patients with CLL or SLL as seen in the BRUIN trial," said Jacob Van Naarden, chief executive officer, Loxo@Lilly. "These first two indications for Jaypirca represent the beginning of the eventual impact that we hope Jaypirca can have for patients, and we look forward to seeing the results of the comprehensive Phase 3 development program across CLL, SLL and MCL."

"The treatment landscape for CLL has been dramatically improved by the introduction of covalent BTK inhibitors and BCL-2 inhibitors. However, most patients will unfortunately relapse eventually," said Brian Koffman, M.D., chief medical officer and executive vice president at the CLL Society. "Pirtobrutinib's approval gives patients a much-needed option and brings forward new possibilities as they continue their treatment journey."