Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Commences Phase 2 Study of ZEVALIN in Combination with the Redox Modulating Agent Motexafin Gadolinium

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals SPPI today announced the initiation of a Phase 2 study evaluating ZEVALIN® (ibritumomab tiuxetan) Injection for intravenous use + rituximab in combination with motexafin gadolinium (MGd) in patients with rituximab-refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). MGd is a redox modulating agent designed to selectively accumulate in cancer cells and interact with intracellular reducing metabolites, producing reactive oxygen species that can disrupt cell function and cause apoptosis (cell death). Results of a previous Phase 1/2 pilot study demonstrated that the combination of ZEVALIN regimen with MGd was well-tolerated and resulted in an overall response rate (ORR) of 86%, a complete response (CR) rate of 64% and the median time to treatment failure of 14-months in the rituximab-refractory follicular lymphoma patients group (n=14). Of particular note, all responses to the ZEVALIN/MGd combination were documented within 4 weeks (see Evens et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2009).