AstraZeneca announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 11 to 2 that current evidence from clinical studies does not support an accelerated approval for use of olaparib as a maintenance treatment for women with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer who have the germline BRCA (gBRCA) mutation, and who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.

The ODAC provides the FDA with independent, expert advice and recommendations, however the final decision regarding approval is made by the FDA.

AstraZeneca filed the US regulatory submission for olaparib in February 2014. The FDA granted priority review status for the NDA in April and set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of 3 October 2014.

Briggs Morrison, executive vice president, global medicines development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca said: “Patients with germline BRCA-mutated serous ovarian cancer have few options available to treat this disease. We are disappointed with today’s recommendation, and strongly believe that olaparib has the potential to provide patients with relapsed BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer and their doctors with a much-needed treatment option. We look forward to continuing to work with the FDA as it evaluates the Advisory Committee recommendation and completes its review of the application. In the meantime, we are continuing with our Phase III clinical programme to evaluate the benefit of olaparib for this patient population. We aim to have completed this study by the end of 2015.”

The NDA filing was based on a subgroup analysis of Phase II data recently published in Lancet Oncology1. The Phase II study was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which evaluated olaparib versus placebo as maintenance treatment in platinum-sensitive relapsed serous ovarian cancer patients who had received previous treatment with at least two platinum regimens and were in a maintained partial or complete response following their last platinum regimen. The study met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours guidelines. A pre-defined subgroup analysis was conducted in patients who have germline BRCA mutations.

In addition, as part of its commitment to bring the potential benefits of olaparib to ovarian cancer patients, AstraZeneca has initiated and is committed to complete the Phase III SOLO programme, designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of olaparib as a maintenance monotherapy in ovarian cancer patients who have a BRCA mutation who are in complete or partial response following platinum-based chemotherapy in the relapsed setting.