Rituximab News and Research

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Rituximab is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used alone or with other drugs to treat certain types of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is also approved to be used with methotrexate to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Rituximab is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer and other conditions.

Highlights of Cell Therapeutics' pixantrone study to be presented at the Lymphoma and Myeloma Conference

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. announced that Dr. Richard Van der Jagt of the Ottawa General Hospital will present at the Lymphoma and Myeloma 2009 Conference in New York an overview of CTI's pixantrone phase II and phase III clinical studies that demonstrated high rates of complete remission (CR) in relapsed/refractory aggressive and indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients.

22 Oct 2009

Millennium commences Vc-R-CHOP Phase II trial for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company today announced the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial examining rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (R-CHOP) with or without VELCADE® (bortezomib) for Injection for patients with a common type of lymphoma. The study will examine previously untreated patients with a genomically defined subtype of lymphoma called non-germinal center B-cell-like (non-GCB) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

22 Oct 2009

SIMPONI treatment results in greater inhibition of structural damage in arthritis patients

Phase 3 data reported for the first time show that once every four week subcutaneous injections of SIMPONI(TM) (golimumab) resulted in significantly greater inhibition of structural damage compared with placebo plus methotrexate in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

20 Oct 2009

Interim results from Phase 1 CAL-101 trial for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leader in the development of isoform-selective phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases, today announced the presentation of interim results from the ongoing Phase 1 trial evaluating CAL-101, an oral delta-selective PI3K inhibitor, demonstrating promising clinical responses in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

20 Oct 2009

UCB reports on the outcome of Cimzia and MTX treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

UCB today announced data that showed rapid and sustained improvements in ACR20, physical function, pain and fatigue of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as early as the first week, and inhibition of progression of structural joint damage (seen at week 24) following treatment with Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), together with methotrexate (MTX), was sustained up to 100 weeks.

19 Oct 2009

Rituxan's sBLA receives a Complete Response from the FDA

Genentech, Inc. a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group, and Biogen Idec announced today that the companies received a Complete Response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Rituxan (rituximab) plus methotrexate (MTX) in patients with moderately-to-severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who no longer respond to treatment with a disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), including MTX.

19 Oct 2009

PIKAMAB obtains U.S. patent rights to develop theragnostic product

PIKAMAB, a stratified medicine biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has secured exclusive rights to two issued U.S. patents from Hospital for Special Surgery, New York. PIKAMAB is developing Lupus TherasightTM, a novel theragnostic product that will eventually help guide the drug development process and patient treatment protocols in the areas of lupus and lupus nephritis.

15 Oct 2009

More studies needed to compare the efficacy of different biologic drugs for RA, say researchers

More studies that directly compare the effectiveness of different biologic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are needed, say Cochrane Researchers. The researchers reviewed all previous Cochrane Systematic Reviews assessing the effectiveness of biologic disease-modifying drugs for treatment of RA and found that although all were very effective, there was little data on direct comparisons between the drugs that could help doctors decide which to prescribe.

7 Oct 2009

Seattle Genetics discontinues its SeaGen MARINER clinical trial for large B-cell lymphoma

Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced today that it has discontinued the SeaGen MARINER clinical trial based on a determination that the trial would be unlikely to meet its primary endpoint of superior complete response rate in the dacetuzumab combination arm as compared to the placebo combination arm.

5 Oct 2009

Genentech releases Phase III PRIMA study findings

Genentech, Inc., a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group and Biogen Idec, today announced that a Phase III study (PRIMA) showed that patients with follicular lymphoma who continued receiving Rituxan (rituximab) alone after responding to Rituxan and chemotherapy lived longer without their disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS) than those who did not continue to receive Rituxan.

17 Sep 2009

Large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma now treatable

Cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma have more than tripled in the last thirty years according to the latest Cancer Research UK figures published today.

8 Sep 2009

Spectrum's ZEVALIN expanded label receives FDA approval for treating non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM:SPPI), a commercial-stage biotechnology company with a focus in oncology, today announced ZEVALIN® (ibritumomab tiuxetan), a CD20-directed radiotherapeutic antibody, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an expanded label for the treatment of patients with previously untreated follicular non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), who achieve a partial or complete response to first-line chemotherapy.

5 Sep 2009

Genentech and Biogen Idec submit applications to FDA for Rituxan in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Genentech, Inc. and Biogen Idec today announced that the companies submitted two supplemental Biologics License Applications (sBLAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Rituxan (rituximab) plus standard chemotherapy for people with previously untreated or treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

20 May 2009

Rituximab linked to viral brain infection

The 57-year-old lawyer in New York had handily completed the New York Times' Saturday crossword puzzle - the hardest of the week - for years. But one Saturday morning, suddenly he couldn't retrieve the words to fill in the squares.

18 May 2009

Cimzia approved in U.S. for rheumatoid arthritis

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cimzia, the only PEGylated anti-TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

13 May 2009

$Pharmacyclics starts clinical trial of novel oral Btk inhibitor for refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma$

Pharmacyclics starts clinical trial of novel oral Btk inhibitor for refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Pharmacyclics, Inc. has announced that it has begun treating patients in a Phase 1 dose-escalation study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of PCI-32765, an orally available, selective inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase, or Btk, as a potential treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

13 Apr 2009

Monoclonal antibody cancer therapy

The strategy of using monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment was first described in the late 1970s with the promise that they could be developed into therapies that were highly specific to cancer cells, killing them with few or no side effects.

6 Apr 2009

Rituximab may be effective in treating membranous nephropathy

Current treatments for membranous nephropathy are limited to steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, and chemotherapeutic agents, all of which have significant side effects.

11 Mar 2009

Study of Rituxan (rituximab) in lupus nephritis misses primary endpoint

Genentech, Inc. and Biogen Idec has announced that a Phase III study of Rituxan (rituximab) plus mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and corticosteroids in patients with lupus nephritis did not meet its primary endpoint of significantly reducing disease activity at 52 weeks.

11 Mar 2009

Rituximab useful for advanced indolent lymphoma

A new study has found for the first time that maintenance therapy with the novel antibody, rituximab (MR) following cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone (CVP) therapy improves progression-free survival in patients with stage III-IV indolent lymphoma, according to Howard S. Hochster, M.D. of NYU Langone Medical Center, lead author of a recent study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

11 Mar 2009