Study of Copanlisib in Combination With Standard Immunochemotherapy in Relapsed Indolent Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (iNHL)

A Phase III, Randomized, Double-blind, Controlled Multicenter Study of Intravenous PI3K Inhibitor Copanlisib in Combination With Standard Immunochemotherapy Versus Standard Immunochemotherapy in Patients With Relapsed Indolent Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (iNHL)

The purpose of this study is to assess whether copanlisib in combination with standard immunochemotherapy (rituximab in combination with bendamustine [R-B] and rituximab in combination with a 4 drug combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone/prednisolone [R-CHOP]) is effective and safe, compared with placebo in combination with standard immunochemotherapy (R-B or R-CHOP) in patients with relapsed iNHL who have received at least one, but at most three, lines of treatment, including rituximab-based immunochemotherapy and alkylating agents.

Patients should be in need of and fit for immunochemotherapy and should not be resistant to rituximab (resistance defined as lack of response or progression within 6 months of the last date of rituximab administration, including rituximab, and/or rituximab biosimilars, and/or anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody).

This study will be composed of two parts: Safety run-in and phase III part. The purpose of the safety run-in part of this study is to assess whether the drug being tested (copanlisib) in combination with standard immunochemotherapy (R-B or R-CHOP) is safe and at what dose level of the study drug (copanlisib - 45mg or 60 mg) patients are able to tolerate the study treatment combination. In addition to finding a safe and tolerable dose level for the phase III part of the study, efficacy will also be evaluated for patients that stay on the study treatment during the safety run-in. The phase III part of the study started with the determined recommended dose of copanlisib of 60 mg in combination with R-B. Combination treatment of copanlisib at the recommended/approved dose of 60 mg with R-B or R-CHOP was completed in April 2021.

A maximum of 24 patients will take part in the safety run-in part of this study. In the phase III part approximately 520 patients will be randomly assigned to blinded treatment arms of copanlisib plus R-B or R-CHOP or placebo plus R-B or R-CHOP. Combination therapy (copanlisib/placebo with R-B or R-CHOP) will be administered for a maximum of 6 cycles (C1-C6). Copanlisib/placebo (study drug) monotherapy will be administered from C7 onwards.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically confirmed diagnosis of B lymphocyte antigen CD20 positive iNHL with histological subtype limited to:

  • Follicular lymphoma G1-2-3a
  • Small lymphocytic lymphoma with absolute lymphocyte count <5x10E9/L at study entry
  • Lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma / Waldenström macroglobulinemia (LPL / WM)
  • Marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) (splenic, nodal, or extra-nodal)

• Patients must have relapsed (recurrence after complete response or presented progression after partial response) or progressed after at least one but at most three prior lines of therapy, including rituximab, and/or rituximab biosimilars, and/or anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (e.g. obinutuzumab) -based immunochemotherapy and alkylating agents (if given concomitantly is considered one line of therapy). A previous regimen is defined as one of the following: at least 2 months of single-agent therapy (less than 2 months of therapy with single agent rituximab, or rituximab biosimilars, or anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody can be considered a previous regimen in the case the patient responded to it); at least 2 consecutive cycles of polychemotherapy; autologous transplant; or radioimmunotherapy. Previous exposure to other PI3K Inhibitors (except copanlisib) is acceptable provided there is no resistance (resistance defined as no response (response defined as partial response [PR] or complete response [CR]) at any time during therapy, or progressive disease (PD) after any response (PR/CR) or after stable disease within 6 months from the end of the therapy with a PI3K inhibitor.

• Non-WM patients must have at least one bi-dimensionally measurable lesion (that has not been previously irradiated) according to the Lugano Classification. For patients with splenic MZL this requirement may be restricted to splenomegaly alone since that is usually the only manifestation of measurable disease.

• Patients affected by WM who do not have at least one bi-dimensionally measurable lesion in the baseline radiologic assessment must have measurable disease, defined as presence of immunoglobulin M (IgM) paraprotein with a minimum IgM level ≥ 2 x upper limit of normal and positive immunofixation test.

• Male or female patients ≥ 18 years of age

• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤ 2

• Life expectancy of at least 3 months

• Availability of fresh tumor tissue and/or archival tumor tissue at Screening

• Adequate baseline laboratory values as assessed within 7 days before starting study treatment.

• Left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 50%

Exclusion Criteria

• Histologically confirmed diagnosis of follicular lymphoma grade 3b or transformed disease, or chronic lymphocytic leukemia. In patients with clinical suspicion of transformed disease, a fresh biopsy is recommended.
• Rituximab, or rituximab biosimilars, or anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (e.g. obinutuzumab) resistance at any line of therapy (resistance defined as lack of response, or progression within 6 months of the last date of rituximab, or rituximab biosimilars, or anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody administration, including maintenance with these drugs).
• HbA1c > 8.5% at screening
• History or concurrent condition of interstitial lung disease and/or severely impaired lung function (as judged by the investigator)
• Known lymphomatous involvement of the central nervous system
• Known history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
• Hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV) infection. Patients positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) or hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) will be eligible if they are negative for HBV-DNA, these patients should receive prophylactic antiviral therapy as per rituximab label. Patients positive for anti-HCV antibody will be eligible if they are negative for HCV-RNA.
• Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Patients who are CMV PCR positive at baseline will not be eligible.CMV PCR test is considered positive if, the result can be interpreted as a CMV viremia according to local standard of care.
• Uncontrolled hypertension despite optimal medical management (per investigator´s assessment)
• Congestive heart failure > New York Heart Association (NYHA) class 2