Senesco Acquires More Funding For Possible Myeloma Treatment – On July 29, Senesco Technologies acquired approximately $705,000 from Senesco’s Board of Directors and other investors, including Cato Holding Company, to fund its SNS-01 development program. SNS-01 is a multiple myeloma drug candidate that has shown promising results in mice. Senesco intends to use these funds primarily for multiple myeloma research and for starting a Phase 1 clinical trial in the SNS-01 program. For more information, please see the Senesco…

Celgene Files For Approval Of Revlimid In Japan – On July 7, Celgene announced that it filed a New Drug Application (NDA) for Revlimid (lenalidomide) with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.  The application seeks approval for the use of Revlimid in combination with dexamethasone (Decadron) for myeloma patients who have received at least one previous therapy. The filing is based on the results of two large Phase 3 trials from 2007 that demonstrated the efficacy…

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants (auto-HSCT) may reverse kidney failure in one third of multiple myeloma patients, according to authors of an article published in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Stem cell transplants are used to replace stem cells that are killed along with myeloma cells during chemotherapy. Transplantation of stem cells collected from the patient’s bone marrow before chemotherapy is known as an autologous transplant.

About 20 percent of patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma also suffer…

The Committee for Human Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency has recommended that the stem cell transplant drug Mozobil (plerixafor) be approved for use in the European Union.

Mozobil is used for stem cells transplants in patients with blood cancers, specifically non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Combined with other drugs that stimulate the body’s production of stem cells, Mozobil helps move stem cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, where they can be collected for subsequent transplants.

Traditionally, the…

The results of a small-scale clinical study in England suggest that a new hemodialysis procedure may increase the lifespan of multiple myeloma patients suffering from kidney complications.

Kidney failure is a relatively common complication in multiple myeloma patients and can lead to life-threatening health issues. Hemodialysis clinically removes toxic waste substances from the blood, performing the same function as a healthy kidney.

Previous to this study, researchers had predicted that chemotherapy in combination with the new procedure, called high cutoff…