Benzinga | Jun 4, 2021 10:01AM EDT

Coherus, Junshi Toripalimab-Chemo Combo Beat Chemo Alone in Late-Stage Nose & Throat Cancer Trial

* Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co Ltd and Coherus BioSciences Inc (NASDAQ:CHRS) have announced positive results from the pivotal Phase 3 JUPITER-02 trial evaluating toripalimab plus chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

* The results will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

* The interim analysis met the primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to chemotherapy alone.

* Patients dosed with toripalimab-chemo posted a median PFS of 11.7 months compared with eight months on chemo alone.

* The one-year PFS rate in the toripalimab arm was 49% versus 28% in control.

* Meanwhile, a numerical PFS improvement was seen in patients regardless of PD-1 expression.

* Meanwhile, toripalimab-chemo hit an overall response rate of 77.4% compared with 66.4% on chemo alone.

* Overall survival at the first interim check-in was still too immature to judge, but early results showed a 40% relative risk reduction in the toripalimab arm versus chemo.

* The arms were mostly comparable on the safety front, but the toripalimab arm posted a higher rate of immune-mediated and server or higher side effects.

* Related content: Benzinga's Full FDA Calendar.

* Price Action: CHRS shares are up 4.3% at $13.60 during the market session on the last check Friday.