Incyte bone-marrow cancer drug reduces risk of death

何鸿燊

Wed May 18, 2011 8:12pm EDT

* Side effects include anemia, low platelet counts

* Results from 2nd trial to be presented at ASCO meeting

LOS ANGELES, May 18 (Reuters) - Incyte Corp's (INCY.O)
experimental drug ruxolitinib was shown in a pivotal trial to
reduce the risk of death for myelofibrosis patients by 33
percent compared with a placebo, although the difference was
not statistically significant.

Incyte and partner Novartis AG (NOVN.VX) had previously
announced that the trial -- which tested the drug in
myelofibrosis, a cancer of the bone marrow -- met its goal of
significantly reducing the spleen size of patients.

Ten deaths were seen in the group of patients treated with
ruxolitinib, compared with 14 for the placebo group.

The additional trial details were released on Wednesday
ahead of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical
Oncology.

Wells Fargo analyst Brian Abrahams said the details held
few surprises, but did confirm the drug's strong profile --
showing that symptom scores dramatically improved versus
placebo.

He said the anemia rate of 31 percent and low blood
platelet rate of 34 percent were not unexpected.

"The related discontinuation rates were low, indicating
they were manageable," Abrahams said in a research note.

A second trial of the drug is scheduled for presentation at
the ASCO conference in June.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Dale Hudson)