As I've been saying for quite a time now, I believe it's only a matter of time before Thalomid becomes a first-line treatment for myeloma:
Headline: Data Shows Potential For Celgene's Thalomid Drug As Cancer Treatment
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NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A drug once banned because of concerns about
birth defects has become a saving grace for Celgene Corp., which hopes
to market the drug once known as thalidomide as a cancer treatment.
Celgene shares (CELG), which jumped 12% Wednesday as investors
anticipated positive data on the drug, also closed higher Thursday at
$36.25, up $1.25, or 3.6%, on volume of 537,000 shares. Average daily
volume is 290,000 shares.
Physicians presented data on Celgene's Thalomid - once known as
thalidomide and sold in Europe to ease morning sickness - as a cancer
treatment at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium in New York Thursday.
Researchers presented data on the use of Thalomid to treat myeloma, a
fatal bone cancer, and fatal brain neoplasms. Some 32% of the 179
late-stage myeloma patients using Thalomid in the study conducted by
Bart Barlogie responded to the drug, according to Celgene Chief
Operating Officer and President Sol Barer.
Barer said the response rate was "quite exciting considering that
these patients had a variety of previous treatments."
"People seemed to be pretty excited about it in the (conference)
audience," he added.
Celgene will begin trials to file a new-drug application to the Food
and Drug Administration by the end of this year, said Chief Executive
and Chairman John Jackson.
If ultimately approved, Thalomid could be an alternative to two
existing short-term treatments for myeloma, he said.
In the brain cancer study, half of the 64 patients responded to
treatment combining Thalomid and Carboplatin, a Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
(BMY) drug.
The first patient to undergo the treatment did so in December 1997
and is still alive, although 99% of afflicted people die within a year
of being diagnosed, Barer said.
The results presented Thursday on both treatments confirmed
previously released data, Jackson said.
Thalomid was sold in Europe in the 1950s to treat nausea associated
with pregnancy, but was pulled from the market in 1962 after it was
found to cause serious birth defects. It wasn't approved for sale in the
U.S. until 1998, when the FDA authorized its use for treating a
condition associated with leprosy.
However, 90% of sales for the drug are for cancer treatment rather
than the FDA-approved leprosy treatment, said Barer.
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