Novartis test drug fills Gleevec gap

EAST HANOVER, N.J., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Swiss firm Novartis said Monday phase 2 data show its drug Tasigna achieved "impressive" responses in CML patients who fail Gleevec.

The company said the treatment eliminated or significantly reduced the presence of blood cells containing a defective chromosome in approximately half of adult patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) who had developed resistance and/or intolerance to another Novartis cancer drug, Gleevec.

The data showed that, in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive CML, Tasigna reduced or eliminated the defective chromosome in 51 percent of Gleevec-resistant patients who were in the chronic phase of their disease.

Tasigna also appeared to normalize white blood cell counts in 74 percent of the same patients.

Novartis said the reduction of defective blood cells seen in the study may represent "the highest ever reported with a targeted therapy at a minimum of six months follow-up."

The company said it developed Tasigna as a "next-generation" treatment based on the success of Gleevec.

Although data from the IRIS study show almost 90 percent of Ph(plus) CML patients on Gleevec were alive at five years, a small percentage of these patients become resistant to or cannot tolerate Gleevec, Novartis said.