Celgene Gets Positive CHMP Opinion To Expand REVLIMID

(RTTNews) - Celgene International Sàrl, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corp. (CELG), announced that the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use or CHMP has adopted a positive opinion for the use of REVLIMID as monotherapy for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma or MM who have undergone autologous stem cell transplantation or ASCT. Once approved by the European Commission, REVLIMID will be the first and only licensed maintenance treatment available to these patients.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable and life-threatening blood cancer that is characterised by tumour proliferation and suppression of the immune system. It is a rare but deadly disease—around 39,000 people are diagnosed with MM in Europe, and around 24,000 people die from the disease each year. The median age at diagnosis in Europe is between 65 and 70 years.

For newly diagnosed, transplant-eligible MM patients, key treatment goals are to obtain and to maintain a deep response to therapy, with the ultimate objective of delaying disease progression. These patients typically receive induction therapy and high-dose chemotherapy with melphalan followed by ASCT.