Millennium to present new Velcade data

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that it will present new data for the cancer drug Velcade at an oncology conference set to begin Friday.

The Cambridge company is hoping that Velcade can be used for a wider range of treatments; Velcade is being co-developed by Millennium and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.

"Velcade is the market-leading therapy with unsurpassed single-agent efficacy for previously treated multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma patients," Millennium chief executive Deborah Dunsire said in a statement, adding, "These clinical trial results are expected to further strengthen the role of Velcade in its approved indications and provide exciting new evidence for the potential of Velcade in additional disease settings."

Millennium is scheduled to make its presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)