17 September 2019 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) has received top-line results from the international phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, QUAZAR AML-001, the company said.

The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of investigational therapy CC-486 as maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia who achieved first complete response or complete response with incomplete blood count recovery with induction chemotherapy (with or without consolidation).

Celgene said the study demonstrated that maintenance treatment with CC-486 resulted in a highly statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival compared to placebo.

The key secondary endpoint of relapse-free survival also showed a statistically significant improvement.
CC-486 was well-tolerated and there were no unexpected safety events in QUAZAR AML-001.

This phase 3 study enrolled 472 patients, randomized 1: 1 to receive either oral CC-486 300mg or placebo once daily for 14 days of a 28-day cycle plus best supportive care until disease relapse.

Data from QUAZAR AML-001 will be submitted to a future medical meeting. Celgene also plans regulatory submissions for CC-486 beginning in the first half of 2020.

CC-486 is an investigational compound and not approved for any use in any geography.

Phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of CC-486 as AML maintenance therapy in patients who achieved first CR or complete response with incomplete blood count recovery with induction chemotherapy (with or without consolidation) The primary endpoint of the study was overall survival.

Key secondary endpoints included relapse-free survival, safety and tolerability, healthcare resource utilisation and patient-reported outcomes per the FACIT-Fatigue Scale and EQ-5D questionnaire.

The study enrolled 472 patients, randomised 1: 1 to receive either oral CC-486 300mg or placebo once daily for 14 days of a 28-day cycle plus best supportive care until disease progression.

CC-486 is a cytidine nucleoside analogue and incorporates into DNA and RNA. The main mechanism of action is thought to cause DNA hypomethylation and direct cytotoxicity on abnormal hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow.

Hypomethylation may restore normal function to genes that are critical for differentiation and proliferation.

The antineoplastic effect of CC-486 is hypothesized to cause death of rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells that are no longer responsive to normal growth control mechanism.

Acute myeloid leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal blast cells that are supposed to grow into different types of blood cells.

It may present in multiple subtypes based on the maturity of the cancer cells at diagnosis.

There will be an estimated 21,450 new cases of AML in the United States this year, accounting for 1.2% of all cancer cases, with an estimated 10,920 deaths resulting from the disease.

There are an estimated 61,048 people living with AML in the United States.

Celgene Corp., headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, is an integrated global biopharmaceutical company engaged primarily in the discovery, development and commercialisation of innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases through next-generation solutions in protein homeostasis, immuno-oncology, epigenetics, immunology and neuro-inflammation.