Biopharmaceutical company Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) announced on Wednesday that it has received approval from the European Commission (EC) for BLINCYTO (blinatumomab) monotherapy as part of consolidation therapy for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-negative CD19-positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL).

ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group led the Phase 3 E1910 clinical trial which studied patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-negative B-ALL receiving postinduction consolidation treatment, which aims to deepen remission to achieve durable responses.

Study results demonstrated that BLINCYTO added to multiphase consolidation chemotherapy showed superior overall survival (OS) versus chemotherapy alone. With a median follow-up of 4.5 years, the 5-year OS was 82.4% in the BLINCYTO plus chemotherapy arm and 62.5% in the chemotherapy arm.

The E1910 study was designed and conducted independently from industry. ECOG-ACRIN led the trial with public funding and sponsorship provided by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Other NCI-funded network groups took part in the study. In addition, Amgen provided BLINCYTO and support through an NCI Cooperative Research and Development Agreement.