Amgen's Kyprolis (carfilzomib) has been found to be more effective compared to Takeda's Velcade (bortezomib) in treating relapsed multiple myeloma. According to a study, those treated with a combination of Kyprolis and low-dose dexamethasone lived twice as long with disease progression than those administered Velcade and low-dose dexamethasone. The results of the study will be presented at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Additionally, the Kyprolis combo was shown to be more superior to the Velcade combination regarding secondary objectives, registering higher response rates on the overall and lower neuropathy incidence. The two drug combinations were also comparable in on-study deaths and adverse effects, leading to more or less the same rate of treatment discontinuation. Some of the adverse effects reported when using Kyprolis include cardiac events, infections, and end-organ failure. Precaution is also advised when the drug is prescribed in multiple myeloma patients also suffering from tumor lysis syndrome, hepatic toxicity, pulmonary complications, congestive heart failure and infusion reactions.
"We are excited about the results with Kyprolis in the ENDEAVOR and ASPIRE studies and the potential positive impact for patients with relapsed multiple myeloma," said Robert Bradway, chief executive officer and chairman at Amgen.
"Demonstrating superiority over Velcade in this head-to-head trial supports our goal of ensuring continued improvement of patient outcomes and potentially establishing Kyprolis as the backbone of therapy for patients with multiple myeloma," added Pablo Cagnoni, M.D., president for Onyx Pharmaceuticals, an Amgen subsidiary.
Kyprolis was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accelerated approval in 2012 for treating multiple myeloma patients that have undergone at least two therapies before including an immunomodulatory agent and bortezomib but still experienced disease progression within 60 days of completing last treatment. The drug is administered intravenously for 2 to 10 minutes, two consecutive days in a week for three weeks. This treatment is followed by 12 days of rest, with a 20 mg/m2/day Cycle 1 dose. If tolerated, a 27 mg/m2/day dose for Cycle 2 and beyond is recommended. Kyprolis has also received approval for use in Israel, Mexico and Argentina.
Multiple myeloma is the second most common of hematologic cancers, occurring as a result of abnormal plasma cells. All over the world, almost 230,000 patients are living with the condition, with about 114,000 new cases diagnosed in 2012. In the same year, 80,000 lives were claimed by multiple myeloma. In the United States, about 83,000 are living with the disease. In 2013, over 22,000 new cases were diagnosed, with over 10,000 people dying from the disease.
