Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- SuperGen (Nasdaq: SUPG & SUPGZ) announced today that the results of a clinical study of its proprietary cancer drug, Nipent® (pentostatin), were presented yesterday at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), currently underway in San Francisco.
The study, conducted at Tufts University-New England Medical Center, Boston, evaluated the safety and efficacy of SuperGen's anticancer drug, Nipent (pentostatin), on 13 allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients who received Nipent (pentostatin) as part of a ``preparative regimen'' before transplantation. The study's principal investigator, Todd F. Roberts, M.D., reported that Nipent (pentostatin) was ``well tolerated'' and that ``this novel regimen ... results in high rates of engraftment with 100 percent donor hematopoiesis, and in high-risk patients, has demonstrated a zero percent peritransplant mortality rate.''
``The Tufts University data adds to the expanding clinical documentation that Nipent (pentostatin) is playing a significant role in reducing the deadly complications of bone marrow transplantation (BMT),'' said Dr. Joseph Rubinfeld, chairman and chief executive officer of SuperGen. ``This work also significantly supports the ongoing clinical effort to file for an additional indication of Nipent for the specific BMT complication of GVHD (Graft-Versus- Host-Disease),'' added Dr. Rubinfeld.
GVHD is a syndrome where immune cells from the transplant donor reject the recipient's normal tissue following an allogeneic (from a donor rather than one's self) bone marrow transplant (BMT). Currently, 50 percent of BMTs are allogeneic, with 85 percent of these patients developing GVHD, one-third of whom ultimately will develop a high-grade form of the disease. GVHD is fatal and is currently treated unsuccessfully with various immunosuppressive therapies.
Nipent (pentostatin) is FDA-approved and currently being marketed in the United States and elsewhere for the treatment of hairy cell leukemia.... |
