Velcade boosts survival in multiple myeloma

December 10, 2007

BOSTON (Reuters) - Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Sunday that newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma who took its drug Velcade in combination with a standard regimen had significant improvement in overall survival, compared to patients who took the standard regimen alone.

Data presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology showed that patients who took Velcade in combination with the chemotherapy melphalan and the steroid prednisone had a 40 percent reduction in the risk of death, compared with those who took melphalan and prednisone alone.

The study was stopped early after an independent review committee let all patients into the Velcade arm because of the clear survival advantage.

The company said patients in the Velcade arm saw their disease progress after a median of 24 months following treatment, compared to 17 months in the control arm. The difference was statistically significant and met the main goal of the trial.

Velcade is approved to treat the blood cancer in patients who have been treated with at least one previous therapy. The company hopes to win approval to treat newly diagnosed patients.

The trial, known as VISTA, tested patients who were ineligible for a stem cell transplant, a group that represents roughly half of all multiple myeloma patients.

The company said 30 percent of patients in the Velcade arm had a complete disappearance of the signs and symptoms of their disease, compared with 4 percent in the control arm.