Galena Biopharma Begins RELIEF Patient Registry For Abstral Sublingual Tablets

(RTTNews) - Galena Biopharma (GALE) announced the initiation of the company's Institutional Review Board or IRB-approved cancer patient registry study entitled RELIEF: Rapid Evaluation of Lifestyle, Independence, and Elimination of breakthrough cancer pain with Freedom from oral discomfort through the use of Abstral (fentanyl) Sublingual Tablets.

RELIEF is a post-marketing multicenter trial to assess Abstral for breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) in opioid-tolerant cancer patients. Abstral is available to patients and health care professionals at pharmacies nationwide, and recruitment and enrollment for the registry trial is underway.

RELIEF is a registry study to be completed by enrolled patients over a thirty day period while using Abstral for treatment of their breakthrough cancer pain. Approximately 2,500 patients are expected to enroll in the program.

Galena also announced the debut of Abstral's sales and marketing campaign at the PAINWeek conference taking place September 4-7, 2013 in Las Vegas, NV.

Galena said its commercial team is now fully staffed and on schedule for a fourth quarter launch with senior level executives and a highly experienced sales force. The Company's patient assistance and reimbursement program has been implemented and is being accessed by patients across the country.

Abstral (fentanyl) Sublingual Tablets are an important treatment option for inadequately controlled breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) which impact 40%-80% of cancer patients. Abstral is approved by the FDA, and is a sublingual (under the tongue) fentanyl tablet indicated for the management of breakthrough pain in patients with cancer, 18 years of age and older, who are already receiving, and who are tolerant to, opioid therapy for their persistent baseline cancer pain.