Novartis: Glivec patients “still alive”

Novartis has announced that more than nine in of every ten patients that have used the cancer drug Glivec are “still alive after five years” and that the response rate or those with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) “increases substantially” in the long term.

Data gathered through the International Randomised Interferon versus ST1571(x) (Iris) study shows that 93 per cent of Glivec patients in the early chronic phase of the cancer did not progress during the period. Iris also states that less than five per cent of patients died from leukaemia-related causes during the course of their treatment.

Professor Charles Craddock, haemato-oncology professor at the University of Birmingham and Director of the stem cell transplant unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said that the results are “remarkable”.

Sandy Craine, speaking on behalf of CML Support, said: “When Glivec became available five years ago I never would have believed I would be standing here today.

“When I heard about the US trials for Glivec I was desperate to give it a try and I am delighted to say I had an unexpectedly good response to what was to become a revolutionary therapy.”

Norvatis has been in the news recently as last week saw KaloBios announce that it would be collaborating on two agreements with the Novartis Research Foundation over the artificial resequencing of animal antibodies into ones that are completely compatible with humans and another “broader agreement” involving future research.

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