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ASCO conference: Portola Pharmaceuticals blood cancer drug reduces disease

Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its drug cerdulatinib showed potential in treating lymphoma — a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system.

According to interim results from an ongoing phase 2a study presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, the drug helped reduce the disease in 47% of 101 patients evaluated in the trial.

The patients in the study have specific subtypes of B cell and T cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and include those whose disease has returned or is not responding to existing therapies.

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Cerdulatinib was generally well-received. The most common side effects were increased levels of lipase in the blood, low levels of white blood cells known as neutrophils, and pneumonia or lung infection.

"We look forward to continuing discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding next steps for the development of cerdulatinib, including the potential for an accelerated approval pathway in the U.S. for certain tumor subtypes," said John Curnutte, executive vice president of research and development of Portola.

Cerdulatinib is being developed to treat patients with follicular lymphoma, peripheral T cell lymphoma and other blood cancers, specifically those who have relapsed or who have not responded to prior therapies, the South San Francisco, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical company said.

The 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting is expected to bring together more than 32,000 professionals from all over the world, with more than 2,500 study abstracts to be presented on site and an additional 3,350 abstracts to be published online.