A leading medical journal, The Lancet, has published the results of a Phase III clinical study of Eisai Co.'s Halaven (eribulin mesylate), an anti-cancer agent.
Halaven is indicated for treatment of patients who have been diagnosed with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma -- liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma. Studies have shown treatment with Halaven can improve overall survival rates for patients with these cancers who have received previous treatments and experienced disease progression.
Halaven, which was given an orphan drug designation for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma in the U.S. and Japan by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was initially approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in November 2010. Today, it is used in 60 nations around the world as a breast cancer therapy.
This past January, the FDA green-lighted Halaven as a treatment for unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma patients who had already received regimens containing anthracycline.