Fortsettelse av q&a om NIPU fra 22. aug 23:
Q #3: Why was PFS the primary endpoint for the phase II mesothelioma trial, given there aren’t multiple lines of therapy, and years [?] of survival to complicate measuring overall survival for this disease?
A (Jens Bjørheim): It is important to remember that in phase II you want to gather as much data as possible, so you can set up the most perfect phase III trial positive when you are really validating if your drug has a value – giving it to people as a standard of care. So PFS at the point where we started the trials with the UV1, it was recommended by the FDA and authorities to have PFS as primary endpoint, to understand how the association between PFS and overall survival was in that indication. So, at no time PFS has been seen as an endpoint that will lead to the decision if we want to move on to phase III or not. It will always be overall survival that is the go [goal?] / no go for phase III development, as such. What is important with PFS then, is that if there an association between PFS and overall survival, you can save time, you can save money, and get the drugs earlier to patients. Unfortunately, in the NIPU trial, since we have two conflicting results on the PFS, we do not know if there is an association between PFS and later positive overall survival. This is something that is seen in some indications, especially in those indications where the PFS is very short as in head and neck cancer and in mesothelioma.