Novartis reports progress on blood cancer drug development

Novartis has highlighted the positive progress it has made on the clinical development of a new treatment for the rare blood cancer myelofibrosis.

The company has completed enrolment for Comfort-I and Comfort-II, two phase III clinical trials of the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor INC424, which will compare the efficacy of the treatment to placebo and to the current standard of care.

In addition, the firm also published data from a recent early phase study of the therapy, which showed that a majority of patients were able to see a range of positive benefits when treated with the drug.

It is hoped the compound will provide a new option in combating myelofibrosis, a difficult-to-treat ailment associated with debilitating symptoms, poor quality of life and shortened survival.

Dr Alessandro Riva, global head of oncology development and medical affairs for Novartis Oncology, said: "Complementing our rich haematology-oncology pipeline in rare diseases, this promising JAK inhibitor exemplifies the Novartis commitment to developing new therapies for patients with unmet medical needs."

Earlier this month, the company published phase III trial data for its meningococcal B disease treatment 4CMenB, showing its effectiveness among infant patients.