Millennium says use as first treatment is key to Velcade's growth

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Eugene, Ore., June 12 - Millennium Pharmaceuticals views expanding use of Velcade (bortezomib) for the first treatment for patients as key to the development and growth of the drug, according to Nancy Simonian, senior vice president of critical, regulatory and medical affairs for the company.

"We see the potential for Velcade to be used throughout the frontline setting," Simonian said in a presentation at the Goldman Sachs health care conference held Tuesday.

Millennium currently has three ongoing registration trials that will study Velcade in both transplant and non-transplant settings.

"These will be important data that will solidify the use of Velcade in the frontline setting and all of these studies are progressing nicely," Simonian said.

The company expects to have interim data from one of the trials by the end of the year, she said.

Velcade, which provides a single agent survival advantage in relapse melanoma, currently has between 40% and 50% of the market share in the second and third line setting, she said.

Velcade in multiple myeloma will remain the immediate growth driver for the company, according to Simonian. To date, more than 33,000 multiple myeloma patients have been treated with Velcade worldwide, she said.

Due to the strong data that exists with Velcade in the frontline setting, U.S. and European cooperative groups, including cancer and hematology cooperative groups, have started or are about to start multiple additional studies of the drug, she said.

"I think this is just testament to the fact that people see that Velcade is going to be a backbone of therapy in the frontline setting as well as in the relapse studies," Simonian said.

Millennium also announced on Monday that it has filed a supplemental New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Velcade in the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

Velcade is being co-developed by Millennium and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC. Millennium is responsible for commercialization of Velcade in the United States.

Millennium Pharmaceuticals is a Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.