Benzinga | May 28, 2021 01:15PM EDT

Guardant Health Reports FDA Approved Guardant 360 CDx Test For KRASG12C Inhibitor for Use in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Guardant Health, Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Guardant360(r) CDx test as the first and only liquid biopsy companion diagnostic for tumor mutation profiling, or comprehensive genomic profiling, to identify patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who harbor the KRAS G12C mutation and may benefit from LUMAKRAS(tm) (sotorasib), an FDA-approved KRASG12C inhibitor developed and manufactured by Amgen.

The Guardant360 CDx FDA approval was based on clinical validation data from the CodeBreaK 100 trial evaluating sotorasib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC. Patients identified with the KRAS G12C mutation using the Guardant360 CDx demonstrated an objective response rate consistent with those identified using traditional tissue-based biomarker testing.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.1 and NSCLC accounts for approximately 84 percent of all lung cancers.2 It is estimated that 66 percent of patients with NSCLC have advanced or metastatic disease at initial diagnosis,3 and two out of three with lung adenocarcinoma harbor a driver mutation.4 Clinical guidelines recommend comprehensive genomic profiling at diagnosis, for all patients with advanced NSCLC, to evaluate whether they have one of the growing list of actionable and emerging biomarkers with associated treatment options.5-7 KRAS G12C is one of the most common driver mutations in NSCLC, occurring in 13 percent of patients, and until now, FDA-approved targeted therapy options did not exist.4,8

"The approval of LUMAKRAS represents a significant medical advancement for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who harbor the KRAS G12C mutation because it is the first and only targeted therapy now available to them," said Darryl Sleep, M.D., Amgen chief medical officer and senior vice president of Medical Affairs "However, patients can only benefit from targeted therapies, or personalized treatments, if they are tested for biomarkers. Today's FDA approval of Guardant360 CDx, offers an important development in biomarker testing by providing a high-quality, blood-based testing option for patients."

"In the CodeBreaK 100 phase 2 clinical trial, which was the basis for the FDA approval, sotorasib demonstrated compelling efficacy and tolerability in patients with KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. This approval represents a historic milestone for patients with this mutation," said Vamsidhar Velcheti, M.D., director of thoracic oncology at NYU Langone Health Perlmutter Cancer Center. "This new targeted therapy, reinforces once again why comprehensive biomarker testing at diagnosis is critical. Having additional options, including the availability of a blood-based testing option, such as the Guardant360 CDx, will help to more quickly identify the patients who may benefit and help guide treatment decisions."

"This groundbreaking new therapy from Amgen, LUMAKRAS, underscores the importance of incorporating comprehensive genomic profiling in routine clinical practice to ensure all patients are evaluated for KRAS G12C and the growing list of other actionable mutations that can be treated with targeted therapies shown to significantly improve clinical outcomes," said Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health CEO. "By offering an FDA-approved companion diagnostic that can quickly deliver comprehensive results from a simple blood test, clinicians can have greater confidence using the test, and patients benefit from less invasive testing and shorter wait times to see whether they are eligible for a targeted therapy such as LUMAKRAS."

For oncologists, the FDA-approved Guardant360 CDx provides comprehensive genomic results from a simple blood draw in seven days, helping them move beyond the limitations of tissue biopsies to rapidly obtain clinically relevant information in time to match patients to the optimal personalized treatment. Guardant360 CDx covers all genes recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, including those most relevant to clinical care and NSCLC treatment guidelines.

Since being introduced, the Guardant360 test has become widely accepted for blood-based comprehensive genomic profiling with more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. It has been trusted by more than 9,000 oncologists, with more than 150,000 tests performed to date, and is broadly covered by Medicare and many private payers, representing over 200 million lives.