Novartis (NVS) announced data on pipeline candidate, CTL019 from a long-term study of pediatric patients suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The study showed that 92% of pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) ALL experienced complete remissions with CTL019.
Moreover, sustained remissions were achieved up to one year or more with a six-month event-free survival of 70% and an overall survival of 75% in most cases without further therapy.
Novartis is evaluating CTL019, an experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy, for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients suffering from relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (r/r ALL).
CTL019 uses CAR technology to reprogram a patient's own T cells to look for cancer cells, which express specific proteins called CD19. Once reprogrammed, the T cells (called CTL019 after reprogramming) are released into the patient's blood so as to proliferate and bind to the targeted CD19+ cancer cells and destroy them.
We note that the University of Penn has an exclusive global agreement with Novartis to research, develop and commercialize personalized CAR T cell therapies for the treatment of cancers. The university is currently conducting phase I/II trials on CTL019.
The FDA had granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to CTL019 in Jul 2014. This is expected to expedite the development and review of the candidate. The designation includes not only all features of the fast track program but a more intensive FDA guidance as well.
Successful development and commercialization of its pipeline is important for Novartis at this stage as it faces generic competition for several key drugs such as Gleevec, Zometa and Diovan.
Novartis, a large-cap pharma, currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors looking for better-ranked stocks in the health care sector may consider companies like Allergan (AGN), AbbVie (ABBV) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX). While Allergan and Valeant carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), AbbVie is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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