Benzinga | Sep 20, 2021 12:40PM EDT

Novartis' Kisqali Combo Therapy Extends Survival By One Year In Breast Cancer Patients

* Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) announced results of the final overall survival (OS) analysis of Phase 3 MONALEESA-2 study, which evaluated Kisqali (ribociclib) in combination with letrozole in breast cancer patients.

* The trial compared the combination therapy to placebo plus letrozole in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced or metastatic breast cancer with no prior systemic treatment for advanced disease.

* The data were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (ESMO21) 2021.

* The analysis found that after a median follow-up of over 6.5 years, the longest for any CDK4/6 inhibitor trial to date, the improvement in the median OS was over one year.

* Patients who took Kisqali lived a median of 63.9 months, compared with 51.4 months on letrozole alone.

* After five years, the data showed that Kisqali/letrozole combo had more than a 50% chance of survival (52.3% vs. 43.9%).

* A 12-month delay in time to chemotherapy was observed with Kisqali (median 50.6 vs. 38.9 months) compared to those taking letrozole alone. No new safety signals were observed.

* Price Action: NVS stock is down 0.89% at $82.74 during the market session on the last check Monday.

* Check out our coverage of the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress (ESMO21).