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New data has been presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology, showing Retacrit as being an effective treatment for chemotherapy-induced anaemia.
Hospira – the world leader in generic injectable pharmaceuticals – presented the results from the phase III trial stating that the treatment had an acceptable safety and tolerability profile.
Retacrit – a biosimilar erythropoietin – has been approved in Europe for subcutaneous administration in the treatment of anaemia associated with cheomotherapy. The open-label phase III trial testing Retacrit, evaluated its efficacy, safety and tolerability in 216 patients with solid tumours, malignant lymphoma or multiple myeloma – who were undergoing chemotherapy.
“This study confirms that treatment with Retacrit has real benefits for cancer patients with anaemia, a common side-effect of chemotherapy. The data showed a high haemoglobin response rate, which means a reduced need for blood transfusions during treatment and an improvement in patients’ quality of life”, commented principal study investigator Valentina Tzekova, University Hospital Queen Joanna, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Results from the efficacy data showed that 70.8% of patients treated with retacrit, had a haemoglobin (Hb) response of ≥2 g/dL within 8 weeks. The mean Hb level was 10.6 g/dL at week 12, with 81% of patients remaining transfusion free during this 12-week study period.
In almost all cases when analysing the safety data of retacrit, tolerability was reported as good or excellent by all patients and investigators. Additionally, no patient developed anti-erythropoietin antibodies during the study.
George Blackledge, Global director of Clinical Operations at Hospira commented on the work of Hospira: “Hospira is committed to providing effective and well-tolerated treatments to help reduce healthcare costs, which in turn will allow more patients to be treated with potentially life-saving medications.”
