Celgene Corp. said adding two of its cancer medicines with bortezomib improved the survival of blood cancer patients who did not respond to prior therapy.
The company was studying a combination of Pomalyst, Imnovid and bortezomib with low-dose dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant drug, in a late-stage study known as Optimismm.
The phase 3 trial achieved its primary endpoint of showing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
The cancer cocktail was being evaluated against a combination of bortezomib, marketed as Velcade by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., and low-dose dexamethasone.
Patients in the study had previously been treated with Revlimid, or lenalidomide, a Celgene medicine approved for multiple myeloma.
