NoBlood

Glaxo drug hikes platelets, cuts bleeding in study

Sat Jun 9, 2007 8:51am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc's experimental platelet-boosting drug eltrombopag has produced further positive results in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), researchers said on Saturday.

Eltrombopag, which Glaxo plans to sell as Revolade in Europe and Promacta in the United States, is one of several novel drugs in the group's pipeline which it believes have blockbuster potential.

Results from a pivotal Phase III study presented at the European Hematology Association congress in Vienna showed 50 to 75 milligrams once daily resulted in a statistically significant increase in platelet counts and also reduced bleeding in people with chronic ITP.

The placebo-controlled trial involved 114 adults and patients studied had previously received and failed current standard ITP treatments.

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Mr. Jan B. Wade
Blood Management Consultant
Enhance Outcomes - Control Cost
For Information Call - 360 296-1807
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When will the new drug be available for patients with low platelets?

Jan, thanks for posting this article. I would be interested to see if this drug would find a use among disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) patients, who progress from HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets) to this life-threatening condition after suffering large volume blood loss such as post-partum hemorrhage. Massive transfusions are the primary treatment in the absence of a drug that might replace the lost platelets of this scary condition.

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Jan Grossberg, RN, BSN
Editorial Team