Karen Smith answers some common questions and concerns about the newly FDA approved Vyxeos for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC.
The FDA approval is based on data from a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial that evaluated the efficacy and safety of Vyxeos compared to cytarabine and daunorubicin (7+3) in 309 patients 60 to 75 years of age with newly diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC. In the Vyxeos arm, patients received 44mg/100mg per m2 (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome intravenously via a 90 minute infusion on days 1, 3 and 5 of induction (days 1 and 3 if a second induction was needed) and 29mg/65mg per m2 (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome on days 1 and 3 for consolidation. Patients in the 7+3 arm received induction with cytarabine 100mg/m2/day on days 1-7 by continuous infusion and daunorubicin 60mg/m2/day on days 1-3. For consolidation, cytarabine was dosed on days 1-5 and daunorubicin on days 1-2. For the primary endpoint of overall survival, Vyxeos demonstrated an improvement that was superior to the 7+3 treatment regimen. The median overall survival for the Vyxeos treatment group was 9.6 months compared with 5.9 months for the 7+3 treatment group (p = 0.005; HR = 0.69 [0.52, 0.90]). Vyxeos also demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in complete response rate of 38 percent versus 26 percent; p=0.036. The overall, all-cause 30-day mortality was 6 percent in the Vyxeos arm and 11 percent in the control arm. Six percent of patients in both the Vyxeos and control arm had a fatal adverse reaction on treatment or within 30 days of therapy that was not in the setting of progressive disease. During the first 60 days of the study, 14 percent of patients died in the Vyxeos arm versus 21 percent of patients in the 7+3 arm. In addition, the overall rate of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) was 34 percent in the Vyxeos arm and 25 percent in the 7+3 arm. In the Phase 3 study, the most common adverse reactions were bleeding events, fever, rash, swelling, nausea, sores in the mouth or throat, diarrhea, constipation, muscle pain, tiredness, stomach pain, difficulty breathing, headache, cough, decreased appetite, irregular heartbeat, pneumonia, blood infection, chills, sleep disorders and vomiting.