Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: SPPI), a biotechnology company with
fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a
primary focus in hematology and oncology, today announced the initiation
of a Phase 2 study evaluating ZEVALIN® (ibritumomab tiuxetan) Injection
for intravenous use + rituximab in combination with motexafin gadolinium
(MGd) in patients with rituximab-refractory low-grade or follicular
B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). MGd is a redox modulating agent
designed to selectively accumulate in cancer cells and interact with
intracellular reducing metabolites, producing reactive oxygen species
that can disrupt cell function and cause apoptosis (cell death). Results
of a previous Phase 1/2 pilot study demonstrated that the combination of
ZEVALIN regimen with MGd was well-tolerated and resulted in an overall
response rate (ORR) of 86%, a complete response (CR) rate of 64% and the
median time to treatment failure of 14-months in the
rituximab-refractory follicular lymphoma patients group>et al., Clinical Cancer
Research, 2009).