Odonate Therapeutics Announces Initiation of CONTESSA 2, a Phase 2 Study of Tesetaxel in Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer Who Have Not Previously Received a Taxane

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Odonate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ODT), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of best-in-class therapeutics that improve and extend the lives of patients with cancer, today announced that it has initiated CONTESSA 2, a multinational, multicenter, Phase 2 study of tesetaxel, Odonate’s investigational, orally administered taxane, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (LA/MBC) who have not previously received a taxane. CONTESSA 2 will investigate the combination of tesetaxel plus a reduced dose of capecitabine in approximately 125 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative, hormone receptor (HR) positive disease. The primary endpoint is objective response rate (ORR) as assessed by an Independent Radiologic Review Committee (IRC).

“There is a significant unmet need for new therapies that offer quality-of-life advantages for patients with advanced breast cancer,” said Lee Schwartzberg, M.D., Executive Director, West Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “While patients with advanced disease often recur after having previously received a taxane with their breast cancer surgery, many have no prior taxane exposure because they are diagnosed when their disease is already advanced and inoperable or they did not receive chemotherapy with their breast cancer surgery. CONTESSA 2 is designed to complement CONTESSA, a Phase 3 study in taxane-experienced patients, by investigating the same tesetaxel-containing regimen in patients who have not previously received a taxane.”

About Tesetaxel

Tesetaxel is an investigational, orally administered chemotherapy agent that belongs to a class of drugs known as taxanes, which are widely used in the treatment of cancer. Tesetaxel has several pharmacologic properties that make it unique among taxanes, including: oral administration with a low pill burden; a long (~8-day) terminal plasma half-life in humans, enabling the maintenance of adequate drug levels with relatively infrequent dosing; no history of hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions; and significant activity against chemotherapy-resistant tumors. In patients with metastatic breast cancer, tesetaxel was shown to have significant, single-agent antitumor activity in two multicenter, Phase 2 studies.

About CONTESSA 2

CONTESSA 2 is a multinational, multicenter, Phase 2 study of tesetaxel, an investigational, orally administered taxane, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (LA/MBC). CONTESSA 2 is investigating tesetaxel dosed orally at 27 mg/m² on the first day of each 21-day cycle plus a reduced dose of capecitabine (1,650 mg/m²/day dosed orally for 14 days of each 21-day cycle) in approximately 125 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative, hormone receptor (HR) positive LA/MBC not previously treated with a taxane. Capecitabine is an oral chemotherapy agent that is considered a standard-of-care treatment in LA/MBC. Where indicated, patients must have received endocrine therapy with or without a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor. The primary endpoint is objective response rate (ORR) as assessed by an Independent Radiologic Review Committee (IRC). The secondary efficacy endpoints are duration of response (DoR) as assessed by the IRC, progression-free survival (PFS) as assessed by the IRC, disease control rate (DCR) as assessed by the IRC and overall survival (OS).

About CONTESSA

CONTESSA is a multinational, multicenter, randomized, Phase 3 study of tesetaxel, an investigational, orally administered taxane, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (LA/MBC). CONTESSA is comparing tesetaxel dosed orally at 27 mg/m² on the first day of each 21-day cycle plus a reduced dose of capecitabine (1,650 mg/m²/day dosed orally for 14 days of each 21-day cycle) to the approved dose of capecitabine alone (2,500 mg/m²/day dosed orally for 14 days of each 21-day cycle) in approximately 600 patients randomized 1:1 with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative, hormone receptor (HR) positive LA/MBC previously treated with a taxane in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting. Capecitabine is an oral chemotherapy agent that is considered a standard-of-care treatment in LA/MBC. Where indicated, patients must have received endocrine therapy with or without a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS) as assessed by an Independent Radiologic Review Committee (IRC). CONTESSA’s secondary efficacy endpoints are overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR) as assessed by the IRC and disease control rate (DCR) as assessed by the IRC. To learn more, please visit www.contessastudy.com.

About Odonate Therapeutics, Inc.

Odonate Therapeutics, Inc. is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of best-in-class therapeutics that improve and extend the lives of patients with cancer. Odonate’s initial focus is on the development of tesetaxel, an investigational, orally administered chemotherapy agent that belongs to a class of drugs known as taxanes, which are widely used in the treatment of cancer. Odonate’s goal for tesetaxel is to develop an effective chemotherapy choice for patients that provides quality-of-life advantages over current alternatives. To learn more, please visit www.odonate.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from what we currently expect. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those associated with: the expected outcome of CONTESSA, our Phase 3 study of tesetaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (LA/MBC); the expected outcome of CONTESSA 2, our Phase 2 study of tesetaxel in patients with LA/MBC; our ability to obtain regulatory approval of tesetaxel; and other risks and uncertainties identified in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this press release apply only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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