The primary end point for the trial is objective response rate (ORR), which was assessed from first dose until all patients completed the treatment duration or withdrawal (FL cohort: 52 weeks; DLBCL cohort: 36 weeks). Key secondary end points include CR rate, duration of response (DoR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and changes in scores of patient-reported outcomes.1-3
In the DLBCL cohort, a total of 127 patients with a median age of 66 years (range: 24-88) were evaluable for efficacy and had a median duration of follow-up of 26.2 months. The median of prior lines of therapy was 2 (range: 2-8) with approximately 57% were primary refractory and 66% were double refractory to an anti-CD20 antibody and an alkylator in any line of therapy. Additionally, patient-reported outcomes were either maintained or improved, and both patient-reported pain and emotional functioning scores were observed to improve from baseline during the treatment duration.1
The results indicated that ORR and CR rate were 52% (n = 66) and 31% (n = 39), respectively, and were consistent across high-risk subgroups. Additionally, the median DoR was 10.2 months (95% CI: 5.0-not estimable [NE]) and median duration of CR was 17.9 months (95% CI: 9.2-NE), with an approximate 48% probability of maintaining CR for 24 months.1
According to the investigators, safety was generally consistent with previous reports. Treatment-related adverse events (AEs) that led to interruption or delay of odronextamab treatment occurred in 75 patients (53%) and discontinuation in 14 patients (10%). The most common treatment-emergent AEs reported by the DLBCL cohort were CRS (55%), anemia (43%), and pyrexia (42%), and in the step-up regimen (n = 74), approximately 98% of CRS events were grade 1 or 2, with only 1 grade 3 occurrence (which was confounded by pancreatitis). CRS events resolved with supportive measures, with 26% of patients receiving tociliazumab for management with the optimized regimen. Further, grade 3 or higher infections were reported by 52 patients (37%), of which 16 (11%) were grade 5. COVID-19 infection was also reported by 23 patients (16%), of which 6 (4%) had grade 5 occurrences.1
A total of 128 patients with a median age of 61 years (range, 22-84) in the FL grade 1 through 3a cohort were evaluable for efficacy of safety at a median follow-up of 20.1 months. The median of prior lines of therapy was 3 (range: 2-13) with 74.2% refractory to an anti-CD20 antibody, and 71.9% refractory to last treatment. Additionally, the median number of treatment cycles was 19.4 (range: 0.1-95.9), with approximately 95.3% and 85.2% of patients completing cycles 1 and 4, respectively. The ORR was approximately 80.5% and CR rate was 73.4%, and the median PFS was 20.7 months with the 24-month PFS being 46.1%. According to the investigators, median OS was not reached, but the 24-month OS was 70.1%.3
Treatment-emergent AEs were present in all patients, with 15.6% having AEs that lead to treatment discontinuation. In the step-up regimen group (n = 60), CRS occurrences were mostly low-grade—with 1 patient experiencing a grade 3 event—and occurred during the first cycle and resolved in a median of 2 days. Additionally, rates of infection were consistent with heavily pretreated, immunocompromised patients and occurred in 102 patients (79.7%). Of these patients, approximately 14.0% experienced grades 4 or 5 infections and 36.7% reported COVID-19 infections.3
The trial is still undergoing to assess the efficacy of odronextamab in other B-NHL subtypes. Additionally, the findings support the continued investigation of this bispecific antibody in phase 3 trials.1-3
References
1. Ayyappan, S, Kim, WS, Kim TM, et al. Final Analysis of the Phase 2 ELM-2 Study: Odronextamab in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Blood. 2023;142(suppl 1):436. doi:10.1182/blood-2023-179818
2. A Study to Assess the Anti-Tumor Activity and Safety of Odronextamab in Patients With B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma That Have Been Previously Treated (ELM-2). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03888105. Updated April 8, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03888105
3. Chong, G, Taszner, M, Novelli, S, et al. Abstract CT243: Primary analysis of the Phase 2 ELM-2 study: Odronextamab in patients (pts) with relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma (R/R FL). Cancer Res. 1 2024;84(7_Supplement):CT243 doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2024-CT243