US-based biopharmaceutical company CTI BioPharma has reported positive top-line results of the Phase III PERSIST-2 trial of pacritinib to treat patients with a high risk of advanced myelofibrosis.

Pacritinib is an investigational, oral kinase inhibitor developed specifically for enzymes such as JAK2, FLT3, IRAK1 and CSF1R.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

The JAK enzymes are the integral part in signal transduction pathways, which promotes normal blood cell growth and development, as well as trigger inflammatory cytokine expression and immune responses.

Mutations in these kinases are shown responsible for the outbreak of a variety of blood-related cancers, including myeloproliferative neoplasms, leukaemia and lymphoma.

"These patients represent up to 30% of all myelofibrosis patients and an unmet medical need."

A total of 311 patients were involved in the Phase III PERSIST-2 clinical trial that has been designed as a randomised, controlled study to compare pacritinib with physician-specified best available therapy (BAT) and ruxolitinib to treat myelofibrosis.

Initial results suggested that administration of pacritinib resulted to an improvement in spleen volume reduction (SVR) when compared with the results of BAT and ruxolitinib.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre clinical research centre director and principal investigator of PERSIST-2 Phase III study Srdan Verstovsek said: "Unlike patients with myelofibrosis who have normal baseline platelet counts where median survival is reported at 88 months, we recently reported from our institution's experience that patients with severe thrombocytopenia (low platelets) had a median survival of about 14 months.

"These patients represent up to 30% of all myelofibrosis patients and an unmet medical need.

“Data from the PERSIST-2 prospective randomised, controlled trial is encouraging because we need an effective therapy to treat the most challenging patients with low platelet counts we see in our practice."

The previously held PERSIST-1 trial compared pacritinib with BAT, excluding JAK2 inhibitors, to treat primary myelofibrosis, and had also met the primary goal of achieving spleen volume reduction following the administration of pacritinib.