SHANGHAI, China, November 16, 2024 — Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd (Junshi Biosciences, HKEX: 1877; SSE: 688180), a leading innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TopAlliance Biosciences Inc. (TopAlliance Biosciences), announced that the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved toripalimab (UK trade name: LOQTORZI®) for the treatment of two indications:
In UK, toripalimab is the first and only drug for the treatment of NPC and the only first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic ESCC, regardless of PD-L1 status.
NPC is a malignant tumor that occurs in the nasopharyngeal mucosal epithelium and is one of the most common types of head and neck cancers globally. According to GLOBOCAN 2022 statistics, the number of newly diagnosed NPC cases in 2022 exceeded 120,000 worldwide. Due to the location of the primary tumor, surgery is rarely an option. The latest European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Guidelines recommend immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy as the first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic NPC.
The approval of the NPC indication is primarily based on the results from the JUPITER-02 study (a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational multi-center Phase 3 clinical study, NCT03581786). JUPITER-02 is the first international multi-center, double-blind, randomized Phase 3 clinical study in NPC immunotherapy with the largest sample size, and the world’s first Phase 3 clinical study with preset statistical verification (Type I error control) for overall survival (“OS”) in first-line immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy for NPC compared to chemotherapy alone that demonstrated a survival benefit. The study results were presented in an oral report during the Plenary Session of the 2021 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (#LBA2) and were subsequently featured on the cover of Nature Medicine. The results were also published in full in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Results showed that, compared to chemotherapy alone, toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression by 48% and the risk of death by 37%. The median progression-free survival (“PFS”) in the toripalimab plus chemotherapy group was prolonged by 13.2 months compared to chemotherapy alone, from 8.2 months to 21.4 months. In addition, patients treated with this combined therapy achieved a higher objective response rate (ORR) and longer duration of response (DoR), with a complete response (CR) rate of 26.7%, and no new safety signal was identified. Long-term survival follow-up data, presented at ASCO 2024, reported a 5-year survival rate of 52.0%.
EC is one of the most common malignant tumors in the alimentary tract. According to GLOBOCAN 2022 statistics, esophageal cancer is the 11th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the seventh leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with over 511,000 new cases and over 445,000 deaths in 2022. ESCC and esophageal adenocarcinoma are the two main histological subtypes of esophageal cancer.
The approval of the ESCC indication is primarily based on the results from the JUPITER-06 study (a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase 3 clinical study, NCT03829969). The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of toripalimab in combination with paclitaxel/cisplatin (TP) for the first-line treatment of advanced ESCC compared with placebo in combination with chemotherapy. The results were first presented in an oral session during the ESMO Congress 2021 and later published in Cancer Cell and Journal of Clinical Oncology, two leading international oncology journals. Study findings showed that toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy resulted in superior PFS and OS in patients with advanced or metastatic ESCC, the median OS was prolonged by 6 months to 17 months and the risk of disease progression or death in patients was significantly reduced by 42%. Futhermore, there was a significant improvement in survival benefits regardless of PD-L1 status.
Dr. Jianjun ZOU, General Manager and CEO of Junshi Biosciences, said, “The approval of toripalimab by MHRA marks another significant milestone for toripalimab in Europe, not only making toripalimab the first and only drug in UK for the treatment of NPC, but also the only first-line treatment for ESCC, regardless of PD-L1 status. We are extremely proud to introduce innovative Chinese biopharmaceuticals to Europe that can address longstanding unmet medical needs of the patients there. Moving forward, we will remain committed to our globalization strategy, ‘In China, For Global.’ We will continue working towards the commercialization of toripalimab, and offer high-quality, innovative, domestically developed medicines to benefit more patients around the world.”