AstraZeneca and Merck announce full results for PARP inhibitor Lynparza

AstraZeneca and Merck have presented full progression-free survival (PFS) results from the Phase III PAOLA-1 study of their PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) in newly-diagnosed ovarian cancer patients at the European Society of Medical Oncology congress. When combined with the current standard of care, bevacizumab, Lynparza reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 41% compared to bevacizumab alone. The Lynparza-bevacizumab also improved PFS, the primary endpoint of the study, by a median of 22.1 months, compared to 16.6 months for bevacizumab alone. Also, two-years after the initiation of the trial, 46% of women treated with Lynparza plus bevacizumab showed no disease progression, compared to 28% who received the standard of care alone. Although the PAOLA-1 study studied ovarian cancer patients regardless of their genetic biomarker status or outcome from previous surgery, AstraZeneca and Merck also carried out two sub-group analyses on BRCA-mutated (BRCA-m) and broader homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) populations.