InnoCare (HKG: 9969; SHA: 688428), a China-based biopharmaceutical company, has announced that the combination treatment of Minjuvi (tafasitamab) plus lenalidomide is now accessible to patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are not eligible for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The first patient in Guangdong has been prescribed this treatment.
Although Minjuvi is not yet approved in mainland China, it, along with lenalidomide, received approval in Hong Kong in December 2022. InnoCare is leveraging the GBA’s early drug access scheme, which permits drugs approved in Hong Kong to be provided to patients in certain hospitals within Guangdong province. Additionally, the Minjuvi/lenalidomide combination has been made available to patients in the Hainan Bo’ao Lecheng medical pilot zone.
Tafasitamab, already approved in the US, EU, and other significant markets, is an Fc-enhanced, humanized, anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody used in combination with lenalidomide for the treatment of DLBCL in patients who cannot undergo stem-cell transplant. Initially developed by US firm Xencor and licensed to MorphoSys AG in 2010, the global development rights were later acquired by Incyte Therapeutics from MorphoSys in 2020. InnoCare entered into an agreement with Incyte for the Greater China rights to the molecule in 2021.- Flcube.com
