Commission approves new leukaemia treatment
The European Commission has approved a new treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia for patients in Europe, the MabCampath TM humanised monoclonal antibody, developed by scientists at Oxford and Cambridge universities in the UK. MabCampath TM was initially developed in Oxford and Cambridge with funding from the UK medical research council. It will treat patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, the most prevalent form of adult leukaemia. The antibody works by targeting a particular antigen on cancerous white blood cells and the clearing these cells from the blood, bone marrow and organs. The approval of the treatment by the Commission follows approval in the USA in April, and is based on the outcome of three clinical trials, involving 149 leukaemia patients who had proved resistant to available treatments. The study showed that 33 per cent of these patients demonstrated an objective response to treatment with MabCampath TM.