US Bioservices, a specialty pharmacy that is a part of AmerisourceBergen, today announced that it has been selected by Verastem OncologyTM to dispense COPIKTRA™ (duvelisib) capsules. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved COPIKTRA™, an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and the first approved dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) after at least two prior therapies.
COPIKTRA also received accelerated approval for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) after at least two prior systemic therapies. The indication in FL is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.
Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer, and CLL/SLL and FL are common types of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas (iNHL). There are an estimated 681,000 people living with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the US alone, including nearly 350,000 cases of CLL/SLL or FL. Many of these patients will eventually relapse or develop refractory disease.
"Specialty pharmacies like US Bioservices have an important role in supporting and coordinating care between providers, patients and the manufacturers that create innovative treatments," said Randy Maloziec, Vice President BioPharma Relations, US Bioservices. "As cancer care becomes more advanced, it's important that we continue to innovate our services to increase collaboration among stakeholders, improving access and the quality of patient care."
Advances and hurdles: The impact of AI on oncology care efficiency and mortality rates