Abelcet and AmBisome: Marketed to treat systemic fungal infections

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers presented data from a 75-patient open-label comparison of LIPO's Abelcet and NXTR's AmBisome amphotericin B formulations in patients with leukemia with diagnosed or suspected fungal infections. Patients in the trial developed 82 febrile episodes that were unresponsive to antibacterial therapy and were treated with one of the two formulations using the same dosing regimen (between 3-5 mg/kg/day depending on diagnosis). Overall response was 63 percent (27 of 43 episodes) with Abelcet, and 39 percent (15 of 39 episodes) with AmBisome (p=0.03).

For patients diagnosed as having definite fungal infections, the response rate was 30 percent with Abelcet versus 29 percent with AmBisome. For patients diagnosed with fever of unknown origin (FUO), the response rate was 100 percent with Abelcet versus 75 percent with AmBisome, and for patients with pneumonia of unknown pathogen the response rate was 80 percent with Abelcet versus 56 percent with AmBisome. ...