Astellas’ Prevail study named as clinical advance of the year

Astellas Pharma has announced that a recent phase III trial of its prostate cancer drug Xtandi has been recognised as a significant clinical advance by a leading industry publication.

Respected sector periodical Scrip has named the Prevail study, a global trial assessing Xtandi in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), as its choice for clinical advance of 2014 as part of its annual Scrip Awards.

Prevail enrolled more than 1,700 patients worldwide and focused on the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer cases where the disease had progressed despite treatment with androgen deprivation therapy and patients had not yet received chemotherapy.

The trial was ultimately halted early after Xtandi was shown to have met both co-primary endpoints of overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival ahead of schedule.

Scrip said: "The Prevail trial results have supported successful applications to extend the label of Xtandi to metastatic CRPC patients who are chemotherapy-naive, marking a significant step forward in the treatment of this common cancer."

The drug was approved in Europe for this new indication last month. It was also recommended for NHS use in its original indication – treating adult men with CRPC whose disease has progressed on or after docetaxel therapy – earlier in 2014.