Dr. O'Brien Discusses Duvelisib in CLL

Susan M. O’Brien, MD, hematologist/oncologist at University of California, Irvine Health, discusses the promise of duvelisib in the treatment landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

O’Brien says that the agent that is closest to approval in the CLL pipeline is duvelisib. Duvelisib is a PI3K-delta and -gamma kinase inhibitor that is currently under a priority review by the FDA. In April 2018, the FDA granted a priority review to a new drug application for a full approval for duvelisib for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory CLL and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

In the phase III DUO trial, duvelisib reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 48% versus ofatumumab (Arzerra) in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL. Median progression-free survival with duvelisib was 3.4 months longer compared to ofatumumab. There was also a 3.7-month improvement in median PFS for patients with 17p deletion who received duvelisib compared to ofatumumab.