Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd. announced that the National Medical Products Administration has approved the supplemental new drug application for toripalimab in combination with axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with medium to high risk unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma ("RCC"). This is the first approved immunotherapy for renal carcinoma in China. According to the risk classification of the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC), the median overall survival ("OS") of patients with low, medium and high risk metastatic RCC receiving anti-vascular targeted treatment were 35.3, 16.6 and 5.4 months, respectively.

Therefore, compared to low-risk patients, the clinical needs for new treatment options are more urgent for patients with medium and high risk advanced RCC. The approval of the sNDA is mainly based on data from the RENOTORCH study (NCT04394975), a multi-center, randomized, open-label, active-controlled Phase 3 clinical study led by principal investigators Professor JunGUO from Peking University Cancer Hospital and Professor Yiran HUANG from Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The study was conducted across 47 medical centers, and represents the first pivotal Phase 3 clinical study of immunotherapy for patients with advanced RCC in China.

A total of 421 randomized patients with medium to high risk unsectable or metastatic RCC were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive toripalimab in combination With axitinib (n=210) or sunitinib alone (n=211). The primary endpoint is progression free survival ("PFS") as assessed by the Independent Review Committee ("IRC"), and secondary endpoints include PFS as assessed by investigators, objective response rate ("ORR") as assessed by IRC or investigators, duration of response ("DoR"), disease control rate (DCR), OS, safety profile, etc. Previously, the study results of RENOTORCH made its debut at the Proffered Paper Session of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress 2023.

The full text was simultaneously published in Annals of Oncology, the official journal of ESMO. In addition, the ORR was higher (56.7% vs. 30.8%, P about Toripalimab: Toripalimab is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody developed for its ability to block PD-1 interactions with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, and for enhanced receptor internalization (endocytosis function).

Blocking PD-1 interactions with PD-L1 and PD -L2 promotes the immune system's ability to attack and kill tumor cells. More than forty company-sponsored toripalimab clinical studies covering more than fifteen indications have been conducted globally by Junshi Biosciences, including in China, the United States, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Ongoing or completed pivotal clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of toripalimab cover a broad range of tumor types, including cancers of the lung, nasopharynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder, breast, liver, kidney, and skin.

In China, toripalimab was the first domestic anti-PD-1 monOClonal antibody approved for marketing (approved in China as TUOYI®). In the United States, the U.S. FDA has approved the Biologics License Application for toripalimab in combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced NPC, and for toripalimab, as a single agent, for the treatment of adults with recurrent, unresectable, or metastatic NPC with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy in October 2023. The FDA has granted toripalimab 2 Breakthrough Therapy designations for the treatment of NPC, 1 Fast Track designation for the treatment of mucosal melanoma, and 5 Orphan Drug designations for the treatment of esophageal cancer, NPC, mucosal melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

In Europe, marketing authorization applications (MAA) were accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the MHRA for 1) toripalimab combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic NPC and 2) toripalimab combined with paclitaxel and cisplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced/recurrent or metastatic ESCC, in December 2022 and February 2023. In Australia, the new chemical entity (NCE) application was accepted by the Australia Therapeutic Goods Administration (?TGA?) in November 2023. The TGA has also granted toripalimab an Orphan Drug designation for the treatment of NPC.

In Singapore, the NDA application was accepted by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority (?HSA?) in January 2024. The HSA has also granted priority review designation for the NDA.