Genentech pharmaceutical company is a member of the well-known and reputable Swiss Roche Group. The company announced positive results from their Phase II study of Venetoclax, a medicine developed in partnership with AbbVie.
The Phase II study met its primary endpoint, showing a meaningful reduction in the number of cancer cells in people suffering from lymphocytic leukemia treated with the venetoclax monotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has recently granted Venetoclax Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the further treatment options of previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This special designation is granted to medicines that are meant to treat serious diseases and it meant to expedite the development and review of selected drugs. The company is planning to submit by the end of 2015 to the FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) regulatory applications for its drug Venetoclax.
Venetoclax medicine is based on a small molecule inhibitor of the BCL-2 protein. This is an innovative new way of treating blood cancers. The Phase II study showed that patients previously treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), refractory to the previous treatment or relapsed, has experienced a significant reduction in the number of blood cancer cells. So far, the treatment seems to be safe and no unexpected safety signals were reported.
According to Genentech, their new drug Venetoclax may help restore the natural process that leads to the self-destruction of the leukemic cells. This represents a potential new approach of treating people with this form of CLL. Until now patients suffering of CLL had typically a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. As for now, the life expectancy of those patients is just under three years.
Approximately 30 to 50 percent of patients with refractory or relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia have the 17p deletion, which makes them difficult to treat. Genentech's new drug Venetoclax may help treat them by restoring the natural healing process and the ability of the immune system to signal these abnormal leukemic cells to self-destruct, according to the chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development, Sandra Horning, MD.
