BeyondSpring’s (NASDAQ:BYSI) poster with findings from its Study 106 has been accepted for presentation at this year’s European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Barcelona on Sept. 28.
In Study 106, BeyondSpring evaluated the effects of Neulasta combined with its Plinabulin drug candidate on absolute neutrophil and platelet counts. BeyondSpring previously reported positive neutropenia prevention data with Neulasta combined with Plinabulin at 20mg/m2.
In this latest abstract, BeyondSpring measured the frequency of thrombocytopenia, a condition in which patients experience a low blood platelet count, in four treatment arms of breast cancer patients receiving four cycles of TAC chemotherapy and increasing Neulasta doses.
BeyondSpring’s data showed that the increasing Neulasta doses caused a statistically significant dose-dependent increase in thrombocytopenia.
“While we know that breast cancer patients who receive chemotherapy treatment experience both neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, Neulasta itself, which is given to patients to help prevent neutropenia, seems to exacerbate chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia,” Dr. Douglas Blayney, global principal investigator for BeyondSpring’s Study 106 and Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a statement.
“Plinabulin is highly effective for the prevention of neutropenia, without causing thrombocytopenia,” he added. “Our findings add to the positive effects of Plinabulin.”
Both agents are equally effective for CIN prevention. “However, in contrast to Neulasta, Plinabulin does not cause bone pain or negatively impact quality of life, and here we report that it does not exacerbate thrombocytopenia,” Dr. Blayney said.
Dr. Ramon Mohanlal, BeyondSpring’s EVP of R&D, and CMO, said that as a single agent, Plinabulin appears to have a superior product profile over Neulasta. “When we combine Plinabulin with Neulasta, we create a superior treatment regimen that is more effective for CIN than either agent alone, while improving on the product characteristics of Neulasta alone,” he added.
