BeiGene’s Brukinsa Makes Strong Showing in Leukemia Trial

BeiGene said its Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) showed superior results for leukemia and lymphoma patients over another BTK inhibitor, ibrutinib, in a head-to-head study.

An interim analysis from a phase 3 trial in 415 adult participants with either relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma found that Brukinsa generated a higher overall response vs. ibrutinib, defined as the number of patients having a partial or complete response to treatment.

Patients treated with Brukinsa also had a significantly lower risk of irregular heartbeats when compared against ibrutinib and the treatment was discontinued more frequently in the ibrutinib cohort, according to BeiGene.