[Sandy]

IMF carfilzomib press release

by Sandy on Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:48 am

Hi all!

Has anyone else seen the IMF press release about carfilzomib [Kyprolis]? I saw it this morning. I put the text below.

Does it seem strange to anyone else here that the IMF wrote this release? I mean, why is the IMF specifically promoting carfilzomib? As much as I can tell, there were great results presented at ASCO for a lot of new drugs, not just carfilzomib. Plus, I think some people have complained that its hard to really tell how good carfilzomib is because of the way the carfilzomb trials were put together.

So why is the IMF pushing just carfilzomib in this press release? Couldn't it send out a more general press release, letting everyone know about all the new drugs being researched? Wouldn't that help myeloma patients more than just pushing a single drug?

I think its great when the IMF makes people aware of new drugs and clinical trials. But isn't it better when it does it for a bunch of new drugs, so that patients will have not just one new option down the road, but many.

My two pennies.

S.

The International Myeloma Foundation Says Study Suggests Carfilzomib Could Be Important New Treatment Option for Relapsed Myeloma Patients

Next-Generation Proteasome Inhibitor Demonstrates Positive Data with Favorable Tolerability in Difficult-to-Treat Patient Group

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), the oldest and largest foundation dedicated to improving the life and care of myeloma patients, today said promising data suggest a new drug called carfilzomib could become an important new option for patients whose myeloma stops responding to other therapies. Carfilzomib, from Onyx Pharmaceuticals, is a next-generation proteasome inhibitor that disrupts the life cycle of a cancer cell, and carfilzomib has shown favorable tolerability. Based on this Phase II clinical trial, Onyx could seek accelerated drug approval from the FDA by the end of 2010.

“We are pleased that the IMF was able to contribute to patient communication and enrollment efforts as we support development of new therapies,” said Susie Novis, President and co-founder of the IMF. “The increased survival and higher quality of life we are seeing in myeloma patients is due in large part to the arsenal of new drugs available to patients. Newer drug candidates such as carfilzomib could play an important role in extending remissions for patients when other drugs stop working.”

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of cells in the bone marrow that affect blood cell production. Current medical treatments include proteasome inhibitor Velcade®, the immunomodulatory IMiDs®, Revlimid® and THALOMID®, and a new IMiD under development, pomalidomide. The drugs are used in sequence and in combination to create and extend remissions. In this latest study, 24% of patients in this difficult-to-treat group achieved an overall response with carfilzomib when at least two previous treatments had stopped working.

“We have made progress moving myeloma toward becoming a chronic disease with long-term remissions,” said Brian G.M. Durie, M.D., Chairman and co-founder of the IMF. “However we do not have a cure, which means we need newer drugs to maintain these remissions in patients who have exhausted current options.”

“We are committed to bringing carfilzomib to myeloma patients who have extremely limited treatment options,” stated Michael G. Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer at Onyx. “We are pleased to have worked side by side with the IMF to educate and enroll patients in this clinical trial. We look forward to continuing to work with the IMF as they help make promising therapies available to patients as quickly as possible.”

Once a rare disease of the elderly, multiple myeloma is being diagnosed in growing numbers and in increasingly younger people. Myeloma affects an estimated 750,000 people worldwide, and each year approximately 20,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States alone.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL MYELOMA FOUNDATION etc etec

[Ricardo]

Re: IMF carfilzomib press release

by Ricardo on Tue Aug 03, 2010 3:03 pm

Not that this necessarily matters, but I couldn't help but notice that, at the bottom of the IMF website (myeloma.org), there's the following text:

"We thank our website sponsors"

followed by a list of four companies:

Amgen, Celgene, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Binding Site.

Carfilzomib, you'll note, is being developed by the third company in the list, Onyx Pharmaceuticals.

[PaulG]

Re: IMF carfilzomib press release

by PaulG on Tue Aug 10, 2010 4:08 pm

Well it is big news for us who respond excellently to Velcade, the number one issue with it seems to be long term tolerability. If this is as effective with a better side effect profile, it'll be huge for me.

[Pat Killingsworth]

Re: IMF carfilzomib press release

by Pat Killingsworth on Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:05 pm

Good question, Sandy! Sometimes it is hard to know why the IMF does what it does. Instead of a conspiracy theory, here is my take: The IMF founders and staff mean well. But they aren't the most organized group. My guess is no thought went into producing this release at all. Onyx makes more info available to the media than any other myeloma related drug company. It's easy to pick-up info about the drug. And, as Paul notes: "it is big news for us who respond excellently to Velcade." Or the rest of us, for that matter. I have written about how well pomalidomide [Pomalyst] is doing during trials. Yet Celgene says very little about it. Onyx's carfilzomib also looks promising. Yet if you read all of their press releases, you would think carfilzomib is the only new anti-myeloma drug out there. Credit the Onyx spin machine.

I sometimes take "heat" for writing about one drug company more than another--or not writing enough about alternative medicines or supplements. I don't have an agenda. I simply try to get as much news out about myeloma related topics as possible. Onyx PR staffers make it easy to do just that.