Through the partnership, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) will provide $3.7 million to support Celator’s Phase IIb multicenter, randomized, open-label trial of CPX-351 versus intensive salvage therapy in adult patients less than or equal to 60 years of age with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first relapse. Celator expects to start patient enrollment in this study in the first quarter of 2009 in the US and Canada.
The partnership between Celator and LLS is part of LLS’s therapy acceleration program, which supports private sector and academic-based projects with the goal of advancing investigational therapies with high prospects for providing near-term benefit to patients with blood cancers.
Scott Jackson, CEO of Celator Pharmaceuticals, said: We are very pleased that The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society sees the potential of CPX-351 and is making this substantial investment. LLS has created a well defined, streamlined process for accessing capital for promising new blood cancer treatments. This commitment enhances our ability to further the clinical development of CPX-351 in patients with AML.