Plerixafor improves stem cell mobilisation
Plerixafor, a novel CXCR4 chemokine antagonist designed to mobilise stem cells for collection, has achieved positive outcomes in two phase III studies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma patients.
Early data, released by Genzyme, the drug’s developer, show that
59 per cent of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treated with
both plerixafor and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) achieved
a target threshold for collection from peripheral blood of at least 5
million CD34+cells/kg (with four or fewer days of apheresis sessions) — the
primary endpoint — compared with 20 per cent of patients given
G-CSF plus placebo (P<0.0001). This trial included 298 patients who
were undergoing a haematopoietic stem cell transplant in the US and Canada.
In the study of 302 multiple myeloma patients, 72 per cent of those given
plerixafor and G-CSF reached the primary endpoint of 6 million CD34+cells/kg
collected in two or fewer days, compared with 34 per cent of those given
G-CSF plus placebo (P<0.0001).
Genzyme says that plerixafor was well tolerated in both trials, with
the most common side effects being mild gastrointestinal effects and
injection-site redness. Genzyme expects to apply for European approval
next year.
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader