Janssen brings early end to successful cancer drug trial

Janssen has announced the early cessation of a phase III trial assessing its drug Imbruvica as a treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma.

The company has taken this decision based on the recommendation of an independent data monitoring committee, which concluded that the drug has shown a significant benefit in terms of progression-free and overall survival, thus meeting the primary and secondary endpoints of the study.

As such, the subjects enrolled in the control arm of the study will be provided with access to Imbruvica. Results from the trial will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Imbruvica was approved for use in the US in November 2013 as a new treatment for mantle cell lymphoma.

Dr Peter Lebowitz, oncology therapeutic area head of Janssen Research and Development, said: "This phase III randomised study provides a useful head-to-head comparison of single agent ibrutinib versus ofatumumab and builds upon the early evidence of clinical benefit observed in the ibrutinib phase II programme."

This comes after the company's tuberculosis drug Sirturo was recently recommended for EU approval by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.