The year 2013 is likely to be remembered as a very good year when it comes to re­search related to multiple myeloma.

Previous years have witnessed re­search shedding new light on existing my­e­lo­ma ther­a­pies, as well as addi­tional re­search about poten­tial new ther­a­pies.

But, in the past, most of the im­por­tant new ther­a­pies that were being re­searched were from existing classes of ther­apy, making them less likely to offer dramatic im­prove­ments in the treat­ment of the dis­ease.

In 2013, not only was there more re­search about existing ther­a­pies, and more re­search about …

Pomalyst is now approved in Canada for the treatment of certain patients with multiple myeloma.

Specifically, Health Canada approved Pomalyst (pomalidomide, Imnovid) for use in combination with dex­a­meth­a­sone (Decadron) in patients with multiple myeloma for whom both Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Velcade (bor­tezomib) have failed, who have received at least two prior treatment regimens, and who have demon­strat­ed disease progression on their last therapy.

Health Canada approved Pomalyst on January 20, but the approval was first announced this morning.

Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG), the company that developed and markets Pomalyst, expects Pomalyst …

POMALYST Is A New Option For Patients Whose Disease Has Progressed Despite Treatment With Available Therapies

Mississauga, Ontario (Press Release) - Health Canada has approved POMALYST™ oral ther­apy (poma­lido­mide capsules) in com­bi­na­tion with dexa­meth­a­sone, for patients with multiple myeloma for whom both lena­lido­mide and bor­tez­o­mib have failed, who have received at least two prior treat­ment regi­mens and have dem­onstrated dis­ease pro­gres­sion on their last regi­men. Until POMALYST, there have been few options for patients whose dis­ease has progressed despite being treated with traditional ther­a­pies. Treatment with POMALYST has been shown to im­prove rates of over­all survival and extend pro­gres­sion-free survival in patients who no longer respond to lena­lido­mide …

At the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), which took place in December, there were many oral and poster pre­sen­ta­tions about Pomalyst, the newest drug approved in the United States and Europe for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Many of the presentations were about studies of Pomalyst (poma­lido­mide, Imnovid) and dex­a­meth­a­sone (Decadron) in combination with a third drug, such as Velcade (bortezomib), Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib), cla­rith­ro­my­cin (Biaxin), cyclo­phos­pha­mide (Cytoxan), or Doxil (doxorubicin lipo­somal), for relapsed and refractory myeloma.

Several of …

This Monday was the third day of the 2013 American Society of Hema­tol­o­gy (ASH) annual meeting, which was held in New Orleans.

More than any other day of the conference, Monday was packed with im­por­tant myeloma pre­sen­ta­tions, from 7:00 in the morning until almost 8:00 in the eve­ning.

This ASH update will summarize the oral pre­sen­ta­tion sessions about treat­ment-related myeloma studies that were held Monday morning. An ASH update that was pub­lished on Wednesday focused on the sessions that were held Monday afternoon and evening.

Monday morning started with three simultaneous …

Monday was the third day of this year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).  The day was filled with oral presentation sessions from early in the morning until into the evening.

In the afternoon and early evening, there were six oral presentation sessions devoted solely to multiple myeloma and a number of other myeloma-related presentations scattered about the afternoon.  The topics of these presentations ranged from the biology of myeloma to treat­ment options for newly diag­nosed, re­lapsed and refractory, and older patients.

This ASH update highlights most of the oral …

Yesterday was the second day of the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) annual meeting, which is being held in New Orleans.

As on Saturday, myeloma-related presentations were once again made during several sessions throughout the day.

Experts who missed the education session on Saturday had the opportunity to attend the session again early Sunday morning.

One myeloma study was presented during the plenary session in the early afternoon. The six presentations in this session covered all blood cancers and are considered particularly important studies.

The myeloma study included in this session was …