Data On Potential New Myeloma Therapies: GSK2110183, ARRY-520 … And Carfilzomib

Dr. Anderson’s presentation is a good starting point for a discussion of the poster summaries of research results that were on display during yesterday’s session.

Two of those posters dealt with potential new myeloma treatments in the very early stages of development.

One poster looked at a drug being developed by GlaxoSmithKline, codenamed GSK2110183 (abstract). It is a so-called “Akt inhibitor”, which means it is in the same class of drugs as perifosine, another potential myeloma drug that is further along in development.

Both GSK2110183 and perifosine are drugs that can be taken as pills or capsules.

Both GSK2110183 and ARRY-520 were tested as single treatments for myeloma patients who have failed a number of previous therapies.

In the GSK2110183 trial, 8.8 percent of the patients achieved a partial response and another 8.8 percent had a minimal response.

In the ARRY-520 trial, 10 percent achieved a partial response, 3.3 percent achieved a minor response, and 27 percent achieved stable disease lasting more than six months.

These results indicate that the drugs have some potential as future myeloma treatments. And, in fact, the developers of ARRY-520 intend to test it further in a larger Phase 2 trial.

The researchers investigating GSK2110183, in contrast, seem less clear about whether the drug will go forward as a single treatment for myeloma patients, or if it may work better in combination with other myeloma treatments, or for certain myeloma patients with specific characteristics.