Millennium expands Velcade tests

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that it has started a test to evaluate using Velcade in combination with other drugs.

Velcade is a treatment for multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy, and the Cambridge company is co-developing Velcade with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.

The Phase II trial that Millennium is announcing today seeks to evaluate the efficacy of combining Velcade for injection, lenalidomide, dexamethasone, and cyclophosphamide in the front-line multiple myeloma setting, Millennium said; multiple myeloma is a form of blood cancer.

"The objective of this trial is to evolve the treatment of multiple myeloma by combining these highly active therapies to induce early complete remission and improve long term survival," Millennium chief medical officer Nancy Simonian said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)