Clinical Trials

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female patients aged ≥ 18 years old.
• Patient has morphologically confirmed diagnosis of AML (World Health Organization [WHO] criteria 2008). Patients may have newly diagnosed primary de novo AML or secondary AML (sAML), defined as AML after myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), or therapy-related AML (t-AML) following cytotoxic therapy, and/or radiotherapy for a malignant or nonmalignant disease.
• Patient has to be unfit for treatment with a standard Ara-C and anthracycline induction regimen due to age or co-morbidities defined by 1 of the following:
  • ≥ 75 years of age; OR
  • ≥ 18 to < 75 years of age with at least one of the following:
    • Has Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 or 3;
    • Has history of cardiac heart failure requiring treatment or ejection fraction ≤ 55% or chronic stable angina;
    • Has carbon monoxide lung diffusion capacity (DLCO) ≤ 65% or forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) ≤ 65% or significant history of chronic pulmonary obstructive disease;
    • Any other patient comorbidity or disease condition that the physician judges to be incompatible with intensive chemotherapy must be reviewed and approved by the trial coordinator before study enrollment.
• Patient has clinical laboratory values within the following parameters (repeat within 3 days before the first dose of study drug if laboratory values used for randomization were obtained more than 3 days before the first dose of study drug):
  • Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times the upper limit of the normal range (ULN) except in participants with Gilbert's syndrome. Patients with Gilbert's syndrome may enroll with direct bilirubin ≤ 3 times the ULN of the direct bilirubin. Elevated indirect bilirubin due to posttransfusion hemolysis is allowed;
  • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 3.0 times the ULN;
  • Creatinine clearance (CrCl) ≥ 30 mL/min (calculated by the Cockcroft Gault formula);
  • Albumin >2.7 g/dL;
  • WBC count < 25 × 10^9/L.
• Patients who are cytoreduced with leukapheresis or with hydroxyurea may be enrolled if they meet the eligibility criteria before starting therapy.

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of MPN with BCR-ABL1 translocation or AML with BCR-ABL1 translocation.
• Genetic diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia.
• Eligible for intensive chemotherapy and/or allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
• Extramedullary AML without evidence of bone marrow involvement.
• Prior treatment with hypomethylating agents for AML (hypomethylating agent treatment for prior MDS is not exclusionary).
• Clinical evidence of or history of central nervous system involvement by AML.
• Diagnosed or treated for another malignancy (except for adequately treated carcinoma in situ of any organ or nonmelanoma skin cancer) within 1 year before randomization or previously diagnosed with another malignancy and have any evidence of residual disease that may compromise the administration of pevonedistat, venetoclax or azacitidine. Prior MDS is also allowed, but the participant cannot have received treatment for MDS within 14 days before first dose of any study drug.
• Patient has a WBC count ≥ 25 × 10^9/L.
• Patient has uncontrolled human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
  • Note: Known HIV positive participants who meet the following criteria will be considered eligible:
    • Cluster difference 4 (CD4) count >350 cells/mm^3;
    • Undetectable viral load;
    • Maintained on modern therapeutic regimens utilizing non-cytochrome P (CYP)-interactive agents;
    • No history of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining opportunistic infections;
• Participant is known to be positive for hepatitis B or C infection, with the exception of those with an undetectable viral load within 3 months (hepatitis B or C testing is not required for eligibility assessment).
• Has hepatic cirrhosis.
• Has uncontrolled coagulopathy or bleeding disorder.
• Has high blood pressure which cannot be controlled by standard treatments.
• Has prolonged rate QTc interval ≥ 500 msec, calculated according to institutional guidelines.
• Has left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40%.
• As infection is a common feature of AML, participants with active infection are permitted to enroll provided that the infection is under control and no signs of systemic inflammatory response beyond low grade fever that makes participant clinically unstable in the opinion of the investigator. Participants with uncontrolled infection shall not be enrolled until infection is treated and brought under control.