Phase III trial comparing antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) SAR408701 with docetaxel in patients with metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSQ NSCLC) failing chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

TPS9625 Background: Despite recent advances in the treatment of NSQ NSCLC, including the integration of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) into first-line treatment of all patients, novel therapies are necessary at disease progression. Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5), a cell-surface glycoprotein, is overexpressed in several tumor types, including NSQ NSCLC; ~20% of patients express high CEACAM5 levels. SAR408701 is an ADC combining a humanized antibody targeting CEACAM5 with the potent cytotoxic maytansinoid derivative DM4 and is expected to selectively deliver DM4 to CEACAM5-expressing cancer cells. In an interim analysis of a first-in-human study (NCT02187848) in patients with NSQ NSCLC and CEACAM5 expression in ≥50% of tumor cells, SAR408701 administered 100 mg/m² every 2 weeks showed an objective response rate (ORR) of 23% and a favorable safety profile (Gazzah A et al J Clin Oncol. 2019;37:15, 9072). Methods: In this randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial, patients receive either SAR408701 100 mg/m² IV every 2 weeks or the standard of care treatment docetaxel 75 mg/m² IV every 3 weeks. Randomization is stratified on ECOG performance status (PS), previous ICI treatment (sequential vs combination), and geographical region. Patients are ≥18 years with metastatic NSQ NSCLC after platinum-based chemotherapy and ICI treatment (anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibody), express CEACAM5 in ≥50% of tumor cells at ≥2+ intensity (central testing), and have ECOG PS 0–1. Exclusion criteria include untreated brain metastases, history of corneal disorders, and prior treatment with docetaxel, maytansinoid derivatives, or CEACAM5-targeting drugs. Tumor imaging occurs at baseline and every 8 weeks until disease progression. Primary endpoints are progression-free survival (PFS; RECIST v1.1 by independent blinded review committee) and overall survival (OS), both analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method, stratified log-rank test, and stratified Cox proportional hazard model. Study success is defined either on PFS or OS, with a strong type-I error control for multiple hypotheses. Secondary endpoints are ORR and duration of response (RECIST v1.1), health related quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-LC13), and safety (adverse events graded by NCI CTCAE v5). Approximately 554 randomized patients (277 per arm) is adequate to reach both PFS and OS events. The study opened in Nov 2019, and as of Feb 7, 2020, 20 sites in 8 countries are activated. Clinical trial information: NCT04154956 .