Leaders at AbbVie, a worldwide biopharmaceutical company, recently announced that it has launched its phase-three clinical trial concerning venetoclax, which is designed to treat patients who have relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
The trial will determine the effectiveness and safety of venetoclax when it is used with dexamethasone and bortezomib. The study will focus on patients who qualify as naïve or sensitive to proteasome inhibitors; qualifying patients must have experienced between one and three other therapy options for their illness. The comparative treatment in the study will be dexamethasone, bortezomib and a placebo.
Multiple myeloma, a type of cancer, happens from malignant plasma cells. After blood cancer, it is the second most frequently found cancer in the U.S., so new treatments would be extremely valuable for patients who have this type.
"We have a comprehensive development strategy for venetoclax, with several ongoing clinical trials across a range of hematologic malignancies and multiple lines of therapy as a single agent and in combination with other medicines," Dr. Michael Severino, executive vice president of research and development for AbbVie, said. "This phase-three trial represents our commitment to identifying the full potential of this therapy through our clinical development program and is an important step in our goal to provide a possible treatment for multiple myeloma patients."
