Schering AG’s MabCampath is “safe and effective”

Schering AG has announced that a phase III clinical trial has shown MabCampath, its monoclonal antibody drug for patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) developed in conjunction with Genzyme, is “safe and effective” as a first-line drug – even in patients with a poor prognosis.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Schering AG presented the results its study, entitled CAM307, which involved 297 patients. The trial compared the effectiveness and safety of MabCampath with chlorambucil, a chemotherapy drug.

The results showed that MabCampath patients had an 83 per cent overall response rate, compared to 56 per cent using chlorambucil, while the Schering drug had a 12-fold increase of complete response rates – or remission – in comparison to chloarmbucil (24 per cent compared with two per cent).

Peter Zundorf, head of Schering AG’s oncology global business unit, said: “We are pleased with the initial results of the CAM307 study showing conclusive data that MabCampath might be a safe and effective treatment in first-line therapy for patients with B-CLL.”

“This is very encouraging news and we are committed to supporting further research of MabCampath in first-line therapy, to bring forth a safe and most effective early-line treatment option for patients with B-CLL,” he added.

According to the UK’s Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service, the average survival time of all B-CLL patients is approximately nine or ten years. It adds that some patients do not require therapy.

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