Exelixis and Ipsen have announced positive subgroup analyses of the Phase III Meteor trial data of Cabometyx (cabozantinib) tablets to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The trail has compared the effects of Cabometyx to that of everolimus administered to 658 enrolled patients who were previously subjected to anti-angiogenic therapy.

The results revealed the benefits of Cabometyx in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) is independent of the presence of bone metastases, prior anti-PD-1 / PD-L1 therapy, and the type of prior vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy.

Exelixis president and CEO Michael Morrissey said: "These additional analyses demonstrate the value of Cabometyx for advanced kidney cancer, showing consistent improvement in PFS and OS across multiple subgroups of patients in the Meteor trial.

"We are dedicated to exploring the full potential of Cabometyx to help as many patients as possible."

"We are dedicated to exploring the full potential of Cabometyx to help as many patients as possible."

Conducted at almost 200 sites in 26 countries, the open-label, event-driven Phase III trial is focused on two endpoints. The primary endpoint was the PFS in the first 375 patients, while the secondary endpoints included OS and objective response rate in all enrolled patients.

Cabometyx is a tablet formulation of cabozantinib targeting MET, AXL and VEGFR-1, -2 and -3, hindering their activities that play a role in the normal cellular function and pathologic processes such as tumour angiogenesis, invasiveness, metastasis and drug resistance.