The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to Tesaro's niraparib for the treatment of patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer.

Tesaro has initiated a rolling submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) for niraparib to the FDA, and intends to complete this submission during the fourth quarter. The Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for niraparib is planned for submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the fourth quarter.

The FDA Fast Track designation is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of medicines that are intended to treat serious conditions and address unmet medical needs. As part of the Fast Track program, the FDA allows for the submission of completed portions of an NDA on an ongoing or rolling basis.

"The initiation of this rolling NDA submission is a significant milestone for Tesaro, and we are committed to working collaboratively with the FDA to advance the review of the niraparib application," said Mary Lynne Hedley, Ph.D., president and COO of Tesaro. "We look forward to presentation of data from the phase 3 NOVA trial of niraparib in a Presidential Symposium session at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress on October 8."

NOVA is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, international Phase 3 trial of niraparib that enrolled more than 500 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who were in a response to their most recent platinum-based chemotherapy.

Niraparib is an oral, once-daily PARP inhibitor that is currently being evaluated in four ongoing pivotal trials. Tesaro is building a robust niraparib franchise by assessing activity across multiple tumor types and by evaluating several potential combinations of niraparib with other therapeutics. The ongoing development programme for niraparib includes a phase 3 trial in patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent ovarian cancer (the NOVA trial); a Phase 3 trial in patients with first-line ovarian cancer (the PRIMA trial); a registrational phase 2 treatment trial in patients with ovarian cancer (the QUADRA trial); and a phase 3 trial for the treatment of patients with BRCA-positive breast cancer (the BRAVO trial). Several combination studies are also underway, including trials of niraparib plus pembrolizumab and bevacizumab.

Niraparib is an investigational agent and, as such, has not been approved by the US FDA or any other regulatory agencies.

Tesaro is a biopharmaceutical company devoted to providing transformative therapies to people bravely facing cancer. The company see new possibilities to responsibly develop and commercialize innovative treatments where others may not.