Amgen Inc.'s cancer treatment Blincyto performed better than chemotherapy in children with leukemia in two late-stage studies.
In a phase 3 study dubbed 20120215, children with high-risk, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia spent a longer time without complications after treatment with Blincyto compared to treatment with chemotherapy.
Amgen ended enrollment for the study due to the drug's performance based on a recommendation from an independent data monitoring committee.
In another phase 3 trial named AALL1331, children with the same disease at three different risk levels — low, intermediate and high — Blincyto performed better than chemotherapy in eliminating signs of cancer, prolonging life, minimizing toxicity and achieving remission.
The Thousand Oaks, Calif., company closed the study for the high- and intermediate-risk arms due to the results, but Amgen will continue to take on low-risk patients to reach its enrollment goals.
Blincyto, originally approved in 2014, is a treatment that spurs a patient's immune system to detect and target cancer cells.
