[The title
was written by my editor.]
Amgen’s new drug for treating multiple myeloma, Kyprolis, when combined
with standard treatment, significantly extended life compared with the standard
treatment alone, according to an interim report on a late-stage study.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Amgen Inc,
the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, announced on Monday that its new
drug Kyprolis delays the worsening of multiple myeloma when combined with
standard therapy compared with standard therapy alone. Amgen acquired Kyprolis
after its purchase of Onyx Pharmaceuticals for $10 billion last year. Sales of
the drug have already accounted for $146 million in the first half of this
year.
Researchers
conducting a study called Aspire are following 792 patients with relapsed
multiple myeloma who received prior treatment. On standard treatment consisting
of Celgene’s existing drug Revlimid combined with dexamethasone, patients
averaged 17.6 months of progression-free survival. Patients who received the
standard treatment plus Kyprolis averaged 26.3 months of life before worsening
of their disease.
These
interim results are expected to boost sales of Kyprolis and accelerate its
pending regulatory review while data from another Phase III trial called Focus
are gathered. Amgen expects results from Focus within the current quarter.
“The
Aspire study is critical for the conversion of the drug’s current approval from
accelerated, or conditional, approval to full approval in the U.S., as well as
for initial approval of the drug in Europe,” said Geoffrey Porges, an analyst
with Sanford Bernstein and who has forecast Kyprolis sales of $425 million in
2015 reaching $800 million in 2017.
Amgen’s
sales of Kyprolis trail behind another new drug designed for treating multiple
myeloma made by Celgene Corporation called Pomalyst, which generated $296.5
million in sales over the last six months.
Amgen
shares were up $1.42, or 1.1 percent at $126.96 on Nasdaq. Celgene shares were
also up at $87.30, a 0.7 percent rise.
No comments:
Post a Comment