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Device/Product name
Piqray
Active Ingredient
Alpelisib
Date of decision
Published
Submission type
New chemical entity
ATC codes
L01XX65
Decision
Approved
What was the decision based on
The decision was based on quality (chemistry and manufacturing), nonclinical (pharmacology and toxicology), clinical (pharmacology, safety and efficacy) and risk management plan information submitted by the sponsor. The benefit-risk profile of Piqray was considered favourable for the therapeutic use approved.
What steps were involved in the decision process

Registration timeline

The following table summarises the key steps and dates for this application.

Description Date
Submission dossier accepted and first round evaluation commenced 1 April 2019
First round evaluation completed 23 October 2019
Sponsor provides responses on questions raised in first round evaluation 24 December 2019
Second round evaluation completed 17 February 2020
Delegate's overall benefit-risk assessment 2 January 2020
Sponsor's pre-Advisory Committee response Not applicable
Advisory Committee meeting Not applicable
Registration decision (Outcome) 19 March 2020
Completion of administrative activities and registration on ARTG 20 March 2020
Number of working days from submission dossier acceptance to registration decision* 195

*Statutory timeframe for standard applications is 255 working days

Date of entry onto ARTG
Original publication date
Black triangle scheme
Yes. This product will remain in the scheme for 5 years, starting on the date the product is first supplied in Australia
Dose forms
Film coated tablet
Strength
50 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg
Other ingredients
Piqray tablets contain the following inactive ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, mannitol, sodium starch glycollate, hypromellose, magnesium stearate (vegetable source), macrogol, iron oxide red CI77491, iron oxide black CI77499, titanium dioxide (E171), and purified talc.
Containers
Blister pack
Pack sizes
50 mg and 200 mg film coated tablets composite pack: 14 day* or 28 day calendar packs containing 28 film coated tablets (fourteen 50 mg and fourteen 200 mg) or 56 film coated tablets (twenty eight 50 mg and twenty eight 200 mg).150 mg film coated tablets pack: 14 day* or 28 day calendar packs containing 28 or 56 film coated tablets.200 mg film coated tablets pack: 14 day* or 28 day calendar packs containing 14 or 28 film coated tablets.*Not all pack sizes are supplied.
Routes of administration
Oral
Dosage

Treatment with Piqray should be initiated by a physician experienced in the use of anticancer Patients with hormone receptor (HR) positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative advanced breast cancer should be selected for treatment with Piqray, based on the presence of a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic alpha subunit (PIK3CA) mutation in tumour or plasma specimens, using a validated test. If a mutation is not detected in a plasma specimen, test tumour tissue if available.

The safety and efficacy of alpelisib in combination with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist in pre- or peri-menopausal women has not been established. There was no treatment benefit demonstrated in patients without PIK3CA mutations, in the Phase III clinical study (see Section 5.1 Pharmacodynamic properties).

Adult dose

Recommended dosage

The recommended dose of Piqray is 300 mg (two 150 mg film coated tablets) taken orally, once daily. Piqray should be taken immediately following food, at approximately the same time each day (see Section 5.1 Pharmacodynamic properties and Section 4.5 Interactions). The maximum recommended daily dose of Piqray is 300 mg. If patient vomits after taking the Piqray dose, the patient should not take an additional dose on that day, and should resume the usual dosing schedule the next day, at the usual time.

When co-administered with Piqray, the recommended dose of fulvestrant is 500 mg administered intramuscularly on Days 1, 15 and, 29, and once monthly thereafter. Please refer to the full product information of fulvestrant.

Treatment should continue as long as clinical benefit is observed or until unacceptable toxicity occurs. Dosing modifications may be necessary to improve tolerability.

For further information refer to the Product Information.

Pregnancy category
DDrugs which have caused, are suspected to have caused or may be expected to cause, an increased incidence of human fetal malformations or irreversible damage. These drugs may also have adverse pharmacological effects. Accompanying texts should be consulted for further details.The use of any medicine during pregnancy requires careful consideration of both risks and benefits by the treating health professional. This must not be used as the sole basis of decision making in the use of medicines during pregnancy. The TGA does not provide advice on the use of medicines in pregnancy for specific cases. More information is available from obstetric drug information services in your State or Territory.
What was approved

Piqray (alpelisib) was approved for the following therapeutic use:

Piqray in combination with fulvestrant, is indicated for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative, advanced or metastatic breast cancer with a PIK3CA mutation as detected by a validated test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen.
What is this medicine and how does it work
Alpelisib is a class I phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor with higher activity against PI3Kα than other members of class I PI3K. Class I PI3K lipid kinases are key components of the PI3K/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway.Gain-of-function mutations in the gene encoding the catalytic α-subunit of PI3K (PIK3CA) lead to activation of PI3Kα manifested by increased lipid kinase activity, growth-factor independent activation of Akt-signaling, cellular transformation and the generation of tumours in preclinical models.In vitro, alpelisib treatment inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K downstream targets Akt as well as its various downstream effectors in breast cancer cells and showed activity towards cell lines harboring a PIK3CA mutation.In vivo, alpelisib showed good tolerability as well as dose-and time-dependent inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway and dose-dependent tumour growth inhibition in relevant tumour xenograft models, including models of breast cancer.PI3K inhibition by alpelisib treatment has been shown to induce an increase in estrogen receptor (ER) transcription in breast cancer cells, therefore, sensitizing these cells to ER inhibition by fulvestrant treatment. Combination of alpelisib and fulvestrant demonstrated increased anti-tumour activity than either treatment alone in xenograft models derived from ER+, PIK3CA mutated breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and KPL1).
What post-market commitments will the sponsor undertake
  • Piqray (alpelisib) is to be included in the Black Triangle Scheme. The Product Information (PI) and Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) for Piqray must include the black triangle symbol and mandatory accompanying text for five years, which starts from the date that the sponsor notifies the TGA of supply of the product.
  • The Piqray European Union-Risk Management Plan (EU-RMP) (version 1.0, dated 4 December 2018, data lock point 12 June 2018), with Australian specific Annex (version 1.0, dated 7 February 2019), included with submission PM-2019-00401-1-4, and any subsequent revisions, as agreed with the TGA will be implemented in Australia.

    An obligatory component of risk management plans is routine pharmacovigilance. Routine pharmacovigilance includes the submission of periodic safety update reports (PSURs).

    Unless agreed separately between the supplier who is the recipient of the approval and the TGA, the first report must be submitted to TGA no later than 15 calendar months after the date of this approval letter. The subsequent reports must be submitted no less frequently than annually from the date of the first submitted report until the period covered by such reports is not less than three years from the date of this approval letter. The annual submission may be made up of two PSURs each covering six months. If the sponsor wishes, the six monthly reports may be submitted separately as they become available.

    The reports are to at least meet the requirements for PSURs as described in the European Medicines Agency’s Guideline on Good Pharmacovigilance Practices (GVP) Module VII-periodic safety update report (Rev 1), Part VII.B Structures and processes. Note that submission of a PSUR does not constitute an application to vary the registration. Each report must have been prepared within ninety calendar days of the data lock point for that report.

  • Submit the final clinical study report for SOLAR-1 when available.
  • Assessment of the transport potential for bile salt export pump (BSEP), multidrug and toxin extrusion 1 (MATE1) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) in the liver system is to be performed as a post-marketing commitment.

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