Padcev Approval Gives Another Option to Treat Bladder Cancer
The FDA recently expanded the indication of a drug for certain types of urothelial cancer, the most common form of bladder cancer. Payers and oncologists appear to be divided, however, on the drug’s place in a treatment regimen. But in a therapeutic class with limited therapeutic options, the approvals are a welcome addition, particularly in the second-line setting.
On July 9, the FDA gave an additional approval to Astellas Pharma US, Inc. and Seagen Inc.’s Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) for the treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and have received at least one line of therapy. The agency also converted the Nectin-4-directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate’s accelerated approval, granted Dec. 18, 2019, to regular approval for the treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have received a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor and a platinum-containing chemotherapy before or after surgery or in a locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer setting.