Three Novartis Therapies Succeed in Trials

It was a successful weekend for Swiss drug giant Novartis, with the company reporting positive results in multiple clinical trials.

In the five-year 219-patient COMFORT-II study, Jakavi (ruxolitinib) demonstrated an overall survival advantage in patients with myelofibrosis, with a 33 percent reduction in risk of death compared to those on the comparator arm.

Separately, in the Phase 3 RESPONSE 2 study, Jakavi met its primary endpoint of inadequately controlled polycythemia vera patients without enlarged spleen.

Novartis also announced positive results from its RATIFY Phase 3 clinical trial, which studied the impact of PKC412 (midostaurin) plus standard induction and consolidation chemotherapy in patients under 60 years of age with newly-diagnosed FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia.

The study met its primary endpoint, with patients receiving the treatment experiencing a 23 percent improvement. PKC412 patients saw a median overall survival of 74.7 months compared with 25.6 months for patients in the placebo group.

Additionally, the drugmaker’s Phase 2 study of CTL019, its investigational chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, found that 55 of 59 (93%) pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia experienced complete remissions.