
“As the first treatment in nearly three decades to significantly improve survival for patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma, axi-cel can potentially change the standard of care for these patients who previously had very limited options for successful curative therapy,” said Jason Westin, MD, MS, FACP, ZUMA-7 Principal Investigator, Director, Lymphoma Clinical Research, and Associate Professor, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

It is notable that despite this process being the historical SOC, less than 40% of patients were able to make it through to complete their stem cell transplant compared with 94% of patients in the ZUMA-7 study who received Yescarta CAR T-cell therapy.

The process starts with chemoimmunotherapy, and if a patient responds and can tolerate further treatment, they move on to high-dose chemotherapy (HDT), followed by stem cell transplant (ASCT). SOC therapy for this patient population has historically been a multi-step process expected to end with stem-cell transplant. With a median follow-up of 4 years (47.2 months), a one-time treatment with Yescarta demonstrated significantly longer overall survival (hazard ratio 0.726 95% CI: 0.540-0.977, stratified one-sided log rank p-value = 0.0168) compared to SOC with a 27.4% reduction in the risk of death, which corresponds to a 38% relative improvement in overall survival, for patients with R/R LBCL within 12 months completion of first-line therapy. The late-breaking data are being presented orally at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (Abstract #LBA107) and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine. Yescarta is the first treatment in nearly 30 years to demonstrate a significant improvement in survival in this patient population. Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), today announces detailed results from the overall survival (OS) analysis of the landmark Phase 3 ZUMA-7 study of Yescarta ® (axicabtagene ciloleucel ) CAR T-cell therapy compared with historical standard of care (SOC) as initial treatment in the curative setting for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (R/R LBCL). Data Highlighted as Late-Breaking News at ASCO 2023 and Simultaneously Published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Yescarta Results in a 27.4% Reduction in Risk of Death, Corresponding to a 38% Relative Improvement in OS, Despite 57% of Patients Subsequently Receiving Cell Therapy Off Protocol.

First Treatment in Nearly 30 Years to Show Statistically Significant OS, With a Median Follow-Up of 47.2 Months, for Initial Treatment of R/R LBCL Versus Historical SOC in the Curative Setting.
