Another PI3K Inhibitor Will Be Withdrawn From U.S. Market

Bayer recently revealed that it will work with the FDA to voluntarily withdraw the New Drug Application (NDA) for its cancer drug Aliqopa (copanlisib). The therapy is the latest phosphoinositide 3-kinase — also called phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase — (PI3K) inhibitor/indication with accelerated approval to treat a hematologic malignancy to be pulled from the U.S. market, potentially spurring payers to take a closer look at these agents.

The agency gave Aliqopa accelerated approval on Sept. 14, 2017, for the treatment of adults with relapsed follicular lymphoma (FL) who have received at least two systemic therapies. Approval was based on the CHRONOS-1 Phase II clinical trial. In the confirmatory study, CHRONOS-4, adding Aliqopa to standard immunochemotherapy regimens did not meet the primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) vs. the standard immunochemotherapy control arm. Bayer says it will publish the trial results “in a timely manner.”