Late-breaking ESMO presentation shows Libtayo® (cemiplimab) monotherapy increases overall survival in first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer with PD-L1 expression of ≥50%

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Late-breaking ESMO presentation shows Libtayo® (cemiplimab) monotherapy increases overall survival in first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer with PD-L1 expression of ≥50%

  • In the overall trial population, Libtayo reduced risk of death by 32% compared to chemotherapy

  • In a prespecified analysis of patients with confirmed PD-L1 expression of ≥50%, Libtayo reduced risk of death by 43%


PARIS and TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – September 21, 2020 - Positive pivotal trial data for the investigational use of PD-1 inhibitor Libtayo® (cemiplimab) in first-line locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were shared in a presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Congress 2020.

The trial compared Libtayo monotherapy to platinum-doublet chemotherapy in patients whose tumor cells expressed PD-L1, including those whose cancers had confirmed PD-L1 expression of ≥50%.These results form the basis of regulatory submissions, including in the U.S. and European Union.

“In new analyses presented at ESMO, Libtayo reduced the risk of death by 43% in patients whose cancer had confirmed PD-L1 expression of 50% or greater. This is notable given that nearly three-quarters of patients crossed over from chemotherapy following disease progression and 12% of patients had pretreated and stable brain metastases,” said Ahmet Sezer, M.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at Başkent University in Adana, Turkey and a trial investigator. “These results support Libtayo as a potential new option for anti-PD-1 monotherapy in first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer.”

The late-breaking ESMO presentation expands on topline results shared in April. In the overall trial population (n=710), the median follow-up was 13 months for both Libtayo (n=356; range: <1-32 months) and chemotherapy (n=354; range: <1-32 months). Among these patients, Libtayo demonstrated the following results compared to chemotherapy:

  • 32% reduced risk of death (hazard ratio [HR]=0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.53-0.87; p=0.0022).

  • 22-month median overall survival (OS; 95% CI: 18 months to not yet evaluable) compared to 14 months (95% CI: 12-19 months).

  • 41% reduced risk of disease progression (HR=0.59; 95% CI: 0.49-0.72; p<0.0001). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6.2 months (95% CI: 4.5-8.3 months) compared to 5.6 months (95% CI: 4.5-6.1 months).

  • 37% objective response rate (ORR; 95% CI: 32-42%; 3% complete response [CR] and 33% partial response [PR] rate) compared to 21% ORR (95% CI: 17-25%; 1% CR and 20% PR rate).