Novartis Phase III Study Of Jakavi Meets Primary Endpoints

(RTTNews) - Novartis (NVS) announced that Phase III studies of Jakavi show disease improvement in patients with myelofibrosis (MF) and polycythemia vera (PV).

The company stated that five-year treatment with Jakavi® (ruxolitinib) suggested an overall survival advantage for patients with myelofibrosis (MF), despite crossover to Jakavi from the best available therapy arm after the primary analysis at 48 weeks.

In addition to the Jakavi data presented at ASH, Novartis announced that a separate Phase III study met its primary endpoint-patients with polycythemia vera (PV) resistant to or intolerant of hydroxyurea who did not have an enlarged spleen who were treated with Jakavi maintained hematocrit control without the need for phlebotomy

"The growing body of research confirms the benefit of Jakavi for patients with rare blood cancers, such as myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera, who have limited treatment options," said Alessandro Riva, MD, Global Head, Novartis Oncology Development and Medical Affairs.