Novartis reports new positive Glivec data

Novartis has announced new data showing that Glivec (imatinib) can stop progression into the advanced stages of leukaemia in the sixth year of treatment.

These results come from the largest ever clinical trial in patients diagnosed with this life-threatening form of the condition, with the rate of disease progression falling to zero per cent in the sixth year of the study, with an estimated six-year survival rate of 88 per cent.

Study findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Haematology, with the firm noting that patients in the chronic stage of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) receiving continuous treatment with the compound did not progress to the advanced stages of the disease.

Dr Brian Druker, director of the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute Centre, said: “If this survival trend continues, many patients with CML may approach normal life expectancy with continued Glivec treatment.”

The firm notes that when deaths unrelated to CML or transplantation are excluded, the overall survival rate in the study rose to 95 per cent, with less than five per cent of patients dying of the condition.

Earlier this month, Novartis reported that its new oncology drug Tasigna (nilotinib) was approved in the European Union as a treatment for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML exhibiting resistance or intolerance to other treatments.