BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product R&D

Re-enlisting Inlyta

Pfizer's Inlyta axitinib could treat BCR-ABL T315I variant ALL and CML

February 12, 2015 8:00 AM UTC

Scientists at Pfizer Inc. and a Finnish research institute have joined forces after independently coming across the same finding - that the kidney cancer drug Inlyta axitinib could help treat leukemias caused by one of the most common mutations of the BCR-ABL oncogene.

Inlyta, which Pfizer markets for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), is better known for its activity as an inhibitor of VEGFR-1. But this week, Pfizer and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki published a study in Nature that casts new light on the drug's activity, showing it binds the BCR-ABL T315I variant that is frequently associated with drug resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). ...