MMRC study: VELCADE(R) with Tipifarnib

The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) and Emory University today announced the initiation of a multi-center Phase I clinical trial to determine the optimal dose level of VELCADE(R) (bortezomib) for Injection, a proteasome inhibitor, in combination with tipifarnib, a first-in-clinic farnesyl transferase inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

The MMRC is the only research model of its kind that brings together 13 leading academic institutions to accelerate the development of novel and combination treatments for multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cell. The MMRC is currently supporting several other clinical trials, including a Phase I study of NPI-0052, a proteasome inhibitor, in collaboration with Nereus Pharmaceuticals; a Phase I study of TKI258, an FGFR3 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 3) inhibitor, in collaboration with Novartis Oncology; and a Phase I study of perifosine, Revlimid(R), and dexamethasone in collaboration with Keryx Biopharmaceuticals.

Entitled "A Phase I Protocol of the Combination Bortezomib and Tipifarnib for Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma,", MMRC Member Institutions that will enroll patients are City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario.

"Encouraging pre-clinical data suggest that VELCADE in combination with tipifarnib may prove to be more active against multiple myeloma cells than either agent alone," said Sagar Lonial, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute and the study's principal investigator. Pre-clinical laboratory data suggests that VELCADE and tipifarnib in combination have synergistic activity against multiple myeloma cells.