Enfortumab vedotin, sold under the brand name Padcev, is an

antibody-drug conjugate Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are a class of biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for treating cancer. Unlike chemotherapy, ADCs are intended to target and kill tumor cells while sparing healthy cells. As of 2019, some 56 phar ...

used for the treatment of

urothelial cancer Transitional cell carcinoma, also called urothelial carcinoma, is a type of cancer that typically occurs in the urinary system. It is the most common type of bladder cancer and cancer of the ureter, urethra, and urachus. It accounts for 95% of ...

. It is a

nectin-4 Nectins and Nectin-like molecules (Necl) are families of cellular adhesion molecules involved in Ca2+-independent cellular adhesion. Nectins are ubiquitously expressed and have adhesive roles in a wide range of tissues such as the adherens junct ...

-directed antibody and microtubule inhibitor conjugate. Enfortumab refers to the

monoclonal antibody A monoclonal antibody (mAb, more rarely called moAb) is an antibody produced from a cell Lineage made by cloning a unique white blood cell. All subsequent antibodies derived this way trace back to a unique parent cell. Monoclonal antibodies ca ...

part, and vedotin refers to the payload drug (MMAE) and the linker. The most common side effects include fatigue, peripheral

neuropathy Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or o ...

(nerve damage resulting in tingling or numbness), decreased appetite, rash,

alopecia Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarri ...

(hair loss),

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...

, altered taste,

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

, dry eye,

pruritus Itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to be classified as any one type of sensory experience. Itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasant ...

(itching) and dry skin. The fully humanized antibody was created by scientists at Agensys (part of

Astellas is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company, formed on 1 April 2005 from the merger of and . On February 5, 2020, the company announced management changes effective from April 1, 2020. Astellas is a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Finan ...

) using Xenomice from

Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. One of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen was esta ...

; the linker technology holding the antibody and the toxin together was provided by and licensed from

Seattle Genetics SeaGen was the world's first large scale commercial tidal stream generator. It was four times more powerful than any other tidal stream generator in the world at the time of installation. It was successfully decommissioned by SIMEC Atlant ...

. The U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(FDA) considers it to be a

first-in-class medication A first-in-class medication is a pharmaceutical that uses a "new and unique mechanism of action" to treat a particular medical condition. While the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research tracks first-in-class medicat ...

Medical uses

Enfortumab vedotin is

indicated In medicine, an indication is a valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery. There can be multiple indications to use a procedure or medication. An indication can commonly be confused with the term diagnosis. A diagnosis ...

for the treatment of adults with locally advanced (when cancer has grown too large to be surgically removed) or metastatic (when cancer cells spread to other parts of the body) urothelial cancer who have previously received a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor and a platinum-containing chemotherapy.

History

Results of a

Phase I clinical trial The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...

were reported in 2016. In December 2019, enfortumab vedotin was approved in the United States for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic

who had previously received a programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor and a platinum-containing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

. Enfortumab vedotin was approved based on the results of a clinical trial that enrolled 125 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who received prior treatment with a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor and platinum-based chemotherapy. The overall response rate, reflecting the percentage of patients who had a certain amount of tumor shrinkage, was 44%, with 12% having a complete response and 32% having a partial response. The median duration of response was 7.6 months. The U.S.

(FDA) granted the application for enfortumab vedotin

accelerated approval The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiated the FDA Accelerated Approval Program in 1992 to allow faster approval of drugs for serious conditions that fill an unmet medical need. The faster approval relies on use of surrogate endp ...

priority review Priority review is a program of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite the review process for drugs that are expected to have a particularly great impact on the treatment of a disease. The priority review voucher program ...

designation, and

breakthrough therapy Breakthrough therapy is a United States Food and Drug Administration designation that expedites drug development that was created by Congress under Section 902 of the 9 July 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. The FDA's "br ...

designation. The FDA granted the approval of Padcev to Astellas Pharma US Inc. In July 2021, the FDA approved enfortumab vedotin for adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have previously received a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand (PD-L1) inhibitor and platinum-containing chemotherapy, or; are ineligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy and have previously received one or more prior lines of therapy.

Society and culture

Legal status

On 16 December 2021, and on 24 February 2022, the

Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), formerly known as Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP), is the European Medicines Agency's committee responsible for elaborating the agency's opinions on all issues regarding ...

(CHMP) of the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or Euro ...

(EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Padcev, intended for the treatment of adults with urothelial cancer. The applicant for this medicinal product is Astellas Pharma Europe B.V. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. Enfortumab vedotin was approved for medical use in the European Union in April 2022. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged.

Names

Enfortumab vedotin is the international nonproprietary name (INN), and the

United States Adopted Name A United States Adopted Name (USAN) is a unique nonproprietary name assigned to a medication marketed in the United States. Each name is assigned by the USAN Council, which is co-sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), the United Stat ...

(USAN).Statement On A Nonproprietary Name Adopted By The USAN Council - Enfortumab Vedotin
,

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

References

External links

* {{Portal bar , Medicine Antibody-drug conjugates Breakthrough therapy Cancer immunotherapy Monoclonal antibodies for tumors