While terms of the agreement are not disclosed, the focus of the agreement will be on studying the use of Favrille's active immunotherapy, FavId, in conjunction with Berlex's growth factor Leukine in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).
FavId is a patient-specific, active immunotherapy currently in a phase III clinical trial following Rituxan induction therapy for the treatment of follicular B-cell NHL. Despite the widespread use of Rituxan in the disease, it is not a cure and patients eventually experience disease progression.
Leukine is a recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), a growth factor that is currently used to help fight infections in appropriate patients by enhancing immune cell function. GM-CSF has also been studied as a means to enhance the immune response in clinical trials of active immunotherapies.
“We are confident that FavId, in combination with Leukine, may ultimately provide oncologists with a new treatment option for patients with B-cell NHL,” said David Guy, chief commercial officer of Favrille.