Congratulations to UCD School of Medicine’s Professor Donal Brennan who is an author on this recently published research in NEJM titled ‘Elinzanetant for Vasomotor Symptoms from Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer’. This clinical trial has been supported by UCD Clinical Research Centre.
Key findings:
Data from Phase III OASIS-4 study to be presented for the first time at 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.
This press release has been prepared by Bayer.
Berlin, June 2, 2025 – Detailed results from the Phase III OASIS-4 study found that the investigational compound elinzanetant showed a statistically significant reduction in the frequency of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS, also known as hot flashes) from baseline to weeks 4 and 12 compared to placebo, in women taking endocrine therapy for treatment or prevention of hormone receptor (HR+) breast cancer. Key secondary endpoints showed statistically significant improvements of sleep disturbances and menopause-related quality of life from baseline to week 12 versus placebo. Additional secondary endpoints showed a reduction in VMS frequency at week 1 and improvements in VMS severity at weeks 4 and 12 versus placebo. These data are being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, taking place from May 30 – June 3 in Chicago, IL, USA, and have been simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). OASIS-4 is the first pivotal international Phase III study to assess the safety and efficacy of elinzanetant for the treatment of moderate to severe VMS associated with endocrine therapy for the treatment or prevention of HR+ breast cancer.
“Menopausal symptoms are frequent side effects of endocrine therapy for breast cancer, often leading to discontinuation, which is why management of these symptoms can play an important role in breast cancer treatment,” said Dr. Fatima Cardoso, Principal Investigator of OASIS-4, from Lisbon, Portugal. “With no currently approved treatments for this indication, there is an unmet medical need for therapeutic options.”
In OASIS-4, elinzanetant showed statistically significant mean reductions in frequency of VMS compared to placebo from baseline at week 4 with −6.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], −7.2 to −5.8) with elinzanetant and −3.0 (95% CI, −3.9 to −2.2) with placebo, with statistical significance between elinzanetant and placebo (least squares [LS] mean difference [95% CI]: −3.5 [−4.4, −2.6]; p<0.001). At week 12, reductions in VMS frequency were −7.8 (95% CI, −8.5 to −7.1) with elinzanetant and −4.2 (95% CI, −5.2 to −3.2) with placebo, with statistical significance between elinzanetant and placebo (LS mean difference [95% CI]: −3.4 [−4.2, −2.5]; p<0.001). The safety profile over 52 weeks observed in the OASIS-4 study is generally consistent with previously conducted studies and published data 1,2 3 on elinzanetant in postmenopausal women with fatigue, somnolence and diarrhea being the most frequent treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) in the elinzanetant group.
The mean change in the PROMIS SD SF 8b total T score from baseline to week 12 was −10.6 points (95% CI, −11.5 to −9.6) in the elinzanetant group and −4.1 points (95% CI, −5.3 to −2.9) in the placebo (LS mean difference between the trial groups, −6.1 points; 95% CI, −7.5 to −4.8; p<0.001). The mean change in the MENQOL total score from baseline to week 12 was −1.3 points (95% CI, −1.4 to −1.2) in the elinzanetant group and −0.5 points (95% CI, −0.7 to −0.3) in the placebo group (LS mean difference between the trial groups, −0.7 points; 95% CI, −0.9 to −0.5; p<0.001). Additional secondary endpoints showed a reduction in VMS frequency at week 1 and in VMS severity at weeks 4 and 12 with elinzanetant versus placebo.
“The results from OASIS-4 represent a potential advancement in addressing a need for women undergoing breast cancer treatment. Vasomotor symptoms associated with endocrine therapy can impact patients’ quality of life and may impact their ability to adhere to other treatments,” said Dr. Christian Rommel, member of the Executive Committee of Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division and Global Head of Research and Development. “Advancing elinzanetant as an investigational, hormone-free treatment option for these patients reaffirms our commitment at Bayer to bring forward innovative treatments for the different health needs of women.”
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women globally with 2.3 million new cases in 2020, and nearly 70% of tumors being hormone-receptor positive. Adjuvant endocrine therapy is well established in guidelines worldwide and routinely prescribed to all women with hormone-positive breast cancer. Treatment with adjuvant endocrine therapy (such as tamoxifen) for up to 10 years substantially reduces the breast cancer mortality rate throughout the two decades after diagnosis.4 Endocrine therapy can also be used as primary prevention, in women at high risk of developing breast cancer. Side effects of endocrine therapy, such as VMS (also referred to as hot flashes), may affect quality of life and treatment compliance, with potential impact on recurrence5. Currently, there are no approved treatment options available. There is an unmet medical need for an effective hormone-free treatment for VMS associated with endocrine therapy.
Elinzanetant is the first dual neurokinin targeted therapy, antagonizing NK-1 and NK-3 receptors, in late-stage clinical development globally for the treatment of moderate to severe VMS due to menopause or associated with endocrine therapy for breast cancer, administered orally once daily. Data from OASIS-1 and -2 were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)3 in August 2024. Detailed results of the
Phase III study OASIS-3 providing additional efficacy and safety data over 52 weeks were presented at The Menopause Society (TMS) annual meeting in September 2024. Based on the positive results from the Phase III clinical development program, submissions for marketing authorizations for elinzanetant are ongoing in the US, EU and other markets around the world.
About the Elinzanetant clinical development program
The Phase III clinical development program of elinzanetant, OASIS, currently comprises four Phase III studies: OASIS-1, -2, -3 and -4. OASIS-1 and -2 investigated the efficacy and safety of elinzanetant administered orally once daily in women with moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause over 26 weeks and randomized 396 and 400 postmenopausal women between 40 and 65 years across 184 sites in 15 countries. Patients in the elinzanetant arm received a 120 mg dose of elinzanetant once daily for 26 weeks and patients in the control arm received a matching placebo once daily for 12 weeks, followed by elinzanetant 120 mg dose for 14 weeks. OASIS-3 investigated the efficacy and safety of elinzanetant for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause over 52 weeks and randomized 628 postmenopausal women between 40 and 65 years across 83 sites in 9 countries. OASIS-4 is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter study to investigate the efficacy and safety of elinzanetant for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms associated with endocrine therapy for treatment or prevention of hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer over 52 weeks and optionally for an additional 2 years in women taking endocrine therapy, for treatment of breast cancer. 474 patients at 90 centers in 16 countries (excluding the US) were randomized.
About Elinzanetant
Elinzanetant is the first dual neurokinin targeted therapy, antagonizing NK-1 and NK- 3 receptors, globally in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of moderate to severe VMS due to menopause or associated with endocrine therapy for breast cancer, administered orally once daily. Elinzanetant may address moderate to severe VMS by modulating a group of estrogen sensitive neurons in the hypothalamus region of the brain (the KNDy neurons) which, with the decrease of estrogen, become hypertrophic and lead to a hyperactivation of the thermoregulatory pathway, consequently disrupting body heat control mechanisms resulting in VMS.