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 …

-- Company Presenting Today at Biocom’s Global Life Science Partnering Conference --

Toronto and San Diego (Press Release) - Triphase Accelerator Corpo­ra­tion today announced that marizomib, its novel, potent pro­te­a­some inhibitor, has been granted orphan drug desig­na­tion by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion (FDA)'s Office of Orphan Products Development for the treat­ment of multiple myeloma. The orphan drug desig­na­tion will provide Triphase with 7-year market­ing exclusivity for marizomib and other benefits upon FDA approval.

“We are pleased that the FDA has granted orphan drug desig­na­tion for the de­vel­op­ment of …

The 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), which took place last month, featured many oral and poster presentations about Kyprolis, one of the newest drugs to be approved for the treat­ment of multiple myeloma.

The drug con­tinues to be tested in various com­bi­na­tions in both newly diag­nosed and re­lapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients, as well as in patients with the myeloma precursor disease smol­der­ing myeloma.

In most trials, Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib) was com­bined with dex­a­meth­a­sone (Decadron) and a third drug, some­times even a fourth drug, such as …

Results from three clinical trials involving the inves­ti­ga­tional drug filanesib were presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting earlier this month.

The trials evaluated the efficacy of filanesib (ARRY-520) alone and in com­bi­na­tion with other agents as potential treat­ments for re­lapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients.

Overall, the trial results presented at ASH con­firm existing impressions of filanesib as a promising potential myeloma ther­apy.

Results of a Phase 2 trial of filanesib with or without low-dose dex­a­meth­a­sone (Decadron) show that 16 per­cent of patients who …

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 …

− Oral Data Presentation to be Featured in “Highlights of ASH” −

New Orleans, LA & Osaka, Japan (Press Release) - Takeda Pharma­ceu­tical Company Limited (TSE:4502) today announced final Phase 1 and pre­lim­i­nary Phase 2 results of a study combining oral inves­ti­ga­tional MLN9708 admin­istered twice a week with lena­lido­mide and dexa­meth­a­sone in patients with newly diag­nosed multiple myeloma (MM). The investigators reported a com­bined com­plete response and very good partial response (CR+VGPR) rate of 76 per­cent (46/62) and a 94 per­cent over­all response rate (ORR; 58/62 ≥ partial response). Stringent com­plete response (sCR) was reached in 75 per­cent of patients …

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 …