Targeting ovarian cancer with a novel antibody therapeutic

What is Elahere^® (mirvetuximab soravtansine) and what makes it unique as a medicine for ovarian cancer?

Elahere is the first and only novel therapy approved in the EU for patients with folate receptor alpha (FRα)-positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC). This treatment is an FRɑ-directed antibody drug conjugate (ADC) that targets FRɑ, a cellular membrane protein, delivering a cancer killing drug directly into the cancer cells, sparing healthy tissue.

Considering it has been 10 years since there has been availability of a new treatment to treat platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in the EU, why is the European Commission’s (EC) authorisation of Elahere significant?

Approval by the EC is significant because Elahere is the first new medication approved specifically for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer since 2014¹ and it is the first novel therapy to demonstrate an overall survival benefit in a Phase III trial for this disease.

This authorisation of the antibody drug conjugate Elahere provides a much needed clinically meaningful option for women living with this type of ovarian cancer, whose disease returns because they develop resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy regimens.

Platinum resistance is often associated with low survival rates and outcomes.² Our team was excited to see the data show statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival, response rate, and overall survival in patients treated with Elahere compared with investigator’s choice chemotherapy.

Can you summarise AbbVie’s partnership with Roche Diagnostics for Elahere?

The selection of patients who express the membrane protein, folate receptor alpha (FRα), through biomarker testing is critical to define eligibility to receive Elahere. It represents an advance in the standard of care for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients, as those patients who express the receptor are more likely to respond well to treatment – we call it precision medicine, the right medicine to the right patient. In approximately one third of people living with ovarian cancer, the folate-receptor alpha (FRα) biomarker is highly expressed.³

To determine this biomarker status, AbbVie collaborated with Roche Diagnostics on a newly approved immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay, a companion diagnostic test.

With approval of the antibody drug conjugate Elahere in Europe, what does the future look like for AbbVie and solid tumour therapies?

AbbVie has leading positions in haematology oncology treatments with BTK and BCL-2 inhibitors as foundational therapies in CLL and other blood cancers. We have a growing solid tumour pipeline with multiple assets targeting many different tumour types including non-small and small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma and others.

References

1. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Ovarian Cancer Including Fallopian Tube Cancer and Primary Peritoneal Cancer. Version 2. Plymouth Meeting, PA: National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2022.
2. Lee, YC. et al. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2022; 32(6).
3. Markert S, Lassmann S, Gabriel B, et al. Alpha-Folate Receptor Expression In Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma And Non-Neoplastic Ovarian Tissue. Anticancer Res. 2008; 28(6A):3567–3572.