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Pixantrone to be Studied in Phase I/II Trial for Aggressive Multiple Sclerosis 06 March 2008

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced today that its investigational drug pixantrone will be studied in a multicenter phase I/II trial initiated by the Fondation Charcot Stichting, in Brussels, Belgium, which sponsors a consortium of centers involved in studying new therapies for the treatment for multiple sclerosis. This study will enroll patients with aggressive relapsing remitting (RR) or secondary progressive (SP) multiple sclerosis (MS). Mitoxantrone, a related compound which is less active in preclinical studies, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the reduction of neurological disability and/or frequency of clinical response in patients with SP MS. A phase III trial with pixantrone in relapsed aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is near completion.

"Despite the availability of newer biologic agents, drugs such as mitoxantrone remain an important therapy in relapsing MS. Long term cardiotoxicity remains a major drawback to treating multiple sclerosis with mitoxantrone and imposes a limitation both for selection of patients and for the duration of the treatment," said R.E. Gonsette, M.D., Chairman Fondation Charcot Stichting and principal investigator of the study. "In addition to the potential for lower cardiac toxicity, preclinical studies suggest that pixantrone may provide more effective immune regulation than mitoxantrone, the only currently approved cytotoxic agent for treating MS."

The investigator-sponsored trial (IST) will enroll 20 patients in Belgium, France and Germany.

About the Study

Twenty patients with aggressive RR MS or SP MS who failed to respond to approved immunomodulatory agents (interferons, glatiramer acetate) will be included. The objectives of the study are to determine the efficacy of pixantrone as an immunosuppressive agent based on its ability to decrease the lymphocyte count and to evaluate efficacy in MS based on gadolinium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. This trial is an open-label, multi-center, non-comparative study of pixantrone administered at a dose of 120 mg/m2 once every 21 days (3 weeks). Four consecutive three-week courses of pixantrone will be administered in order to determine if this regimen results in lymphopenia of less than or equal to 1000/mm3. The doses and the number of infusions will be adapted to leukocyte, granulocyte and thrombocyte counts and possibly reduced.

About Pixantrone

Pixantrone (BBR 2778) is a novel DNA major groove binder that contains an aza-anthracenedione molecular structure, differentiating it from anthracycline chemotherapy agents. A new chemical compound for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), and various other hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, and immunological disorders, pixantrone is being developed by CTI to improve the activity and safety in treating cancers usually treated with the anthracycline family of anti-cancer agents. Anthracyclines have been shown to be very active clinically in a number of tumor types, such as lymphoma, leukemia, and breast cancer. For these diseases, anthracycline-containing chemotherapy regimens are effective in first-line (initial) treatment. However, they may cause cumulative heart damage that limits lifetime dosage and does not allow for retreatment. Pixantrone has been designed to reduce the potential for heart damage compared to currently available anthracyclines or anthracenediones without a loss in anti-tumor or immunomodulatory activities.

Source: Earthtimes © 2008 www.earthtimes.org (06/03/08)

I would think if you live close to one of the study centres and have aggressive RR or SP MS, this might be a good trial to participate in as it's very similar to the already approved drug novantrone, but with much reduced toxicity.