Millennium expands Velcade program in NHL

Massachusetts, USA-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals says it has initiated a multicenter, Phase II trial to evaluate Velcade in combination with emerging agent, bendamustine, and current standard of care, rituximab, in patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma, a subset of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This trial is part of the company's comprehensive development program in NHL, which represents a significant growth opportunity for the drug.

"We designed this trial to combine three active agents in NHL with the goal of enhancing the clinical outcomes of this patient population," said Nancy Simonian, chief medical officer at Millennium. "We are hopeful this novel combination will add to the growing body of data that show the potential of Velcade to be part of the standard-of-care in follicular lymphoma, similar to what we've seen in multiple myeloma," he added.

The primary endpoint of the open-label trial is complete remission with secondary endpoints including progression-free survival and duration of remission. The trial is expected to enroll around 75 patients.