Micromet's BiTE Antibody Blinatumomab Demonstrates Durable Responses in Patients with Relapsed Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Micromet, Inc. presented an update of an ongoing phase 1 clinical trial for its BiTE(R) antibody blinatumomab (MT103/MEDI-538) at the 10th International Conference on Malignant Lymphomas (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. The new data with the CD19-specific BiTE antibody show that all seven patients in the highest dose cohort tested so far (0.06 mg/m2/day) achieved complete or partial responses.
In the study, relapsed, incurable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients who previously failed a median of three (and up to 12) conventional therapies were treated with increasing doses of blinatumomab (MT103/MEDI-538) for four to eight weeks. Dose-dependent clinical activity was observed.
At the recently completed cohort of 0.06 mg/m2 per day, seven out of seven patients showed either complete or partial responses. Remissions in this and the previous dose cohort continue in all patients, with the longest remission ongoing for more than one year. Most frequent side effects observed so far were lymphopenia, pyrexia, and leukopenia. Less common adverse events included transient neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, transient increase of liver enzymes, and central nervous system events, all of which were fully reversible.
"The high response rate and apparently durable remissions in this heavily pre-treated patient population support blinatumomab as a single agent therapy with the potential for accelerated development," said Micromet's Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Carsten Reinhardt.
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