Takeda’s Phase III PANTHER (Pevonedistat-3001) study did not achieve its primary endpoint of event-free survival (EFS), the Japan-headquartered pharma company announced this week.
The late-stage trial evaluated whether the combination of pevonedistat plus azacitidine as first-line treatment for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) and low-blast acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) improved EFS versus azacitidine alone.
Pevonedistat is a NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE) inhibitor that is designed to cause cancer cell death by disrupting protein homeostasis.
“While we are disappointed with this outcome, we are continuing to gain a greater understanding of the full data set and hope that findings from this Phase III study will provide information to help guide research and development for potential treatment options for these underserved patient populations,” said Chris Arendt, head, oncology cell therapy and therapeutic area unit, Takeda.
“We would like to thank the patients, families, advocacy organisations and investigators that participated in this trial, without whom this meaningful research would not have been possible. Takeda remains committed to conducting important research and transforming the lives of patients with cancer,” he added.
