A new drug aimed at treating two rare forms of lymphoma has been launched in the UK.

Takeda UK’s Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) is the first treatment licensed in the last three decades for adult patients with relapsed or refractory CD30 positive Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).

It can also be used in adults with relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL).

Sally Penrose, Chief Executive of the Lymphoma Association, said any new treatment for lymphoma is an “exciting development”.

Adcetris is an innovative antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) which targets CD30 receptors on HL and sALCL cancer cells and actively destroys the cells.

It was granted a conditional license following the results from a Phase II study which showed unprecedented results in patients with relapsed or refractory HL and sALCL.

HL is a type of cancer which mainly affects younger adults. The majority of patients are treated successfully. But up to a third fails to respond to standard therapy options.

sALCL is a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) experienced by all ages. Approximately half of patients with sALCL fail to receive long-term remission through current available treatment – which reduces life expectancy.

Cell Therapeutics has gained conditional authorisation from the European Commission to market its treatment for non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma.

The US biopharma company will be able to market Pixvuri (pixantrone) through a named patient programme in the EU.

This type of authorisation allows a company to quickly market a drug that addresses a major unmet medical need, while waiting for full approval.

According to Cell Therapeutics, the decision follows a phase III clinical trial that showed Pixvari to offer longer progression-free survival and a higher rate of complete response than chemotherapy.

Cell Therapeutics plans to commercialise Pixvari in Europe in the second half of 2012, and will need to complete a post-marketing study to confirm the drug’s clinical efficacy.

The EC decision is a breakthrough for the product, which was rejected by the FDA in 2011 on the grounds that its benefits were unproven. The company is preparing for a second FDA committee review.

US biopharma corporation Amgen has signed a merger agreement to acquire German biotech company Micromet for $1.16 billion.

The deal will bring Amgen a new leukaemia drug and the BiTE drug development technology, potentially applicable to a range of blood cancers.

Micromet’s Munich site will become an Amgen R&D facility.

Amgen will gain the rights to:

• the Bispecific T cell Engager (BiTE) antibody technology, a validated platform for drug development in oncology

• blinatumomab, a BiTE antibody in Phase 2 development for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and in early development for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)

• solitomab, a BiTE antibody in Phase 1 development for treatment of advanced solid tumours.

“The acquisition of Micromet is an opportunity to acquire an innovative oncology asset with global rights and a validated technology platform with broad potential clinical applications,” said Kevin Sharer, CEO of Amgen.

“Blinatumomab will serve as an important complement to our oncology pipeline and is representative of our corporate strategy, which is focused on developing and successfully commercialising therapeutics to treat patients with grievous illness.”

Christian Itin, CEO of Micromet, commented: “Amgen's extensive resources and experience in the development and commercialisation of biologics promise to speed blinatumomab's path to market, expand its development across a broader range of B-cell malignancies and maximise the full potential of our novel BiTE technology.”

Altered forms of ecstasy (MDMA) could soon be used to treat blood cancers – leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Modified versions of the class A amphetamine have been found to be 100 times more effective at destroying cancerous cells.

Dr David Grant, Scientific Director of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, a UK charity that helped fund the study of the drug, said: “The prospect of being able to target blood cancer with a drug derived from ecstasy is a genuinely exciting proposition.”

“Many types of lymphoma remain hard to treat and non-toxic drugs which are both effective and have few side effects are desperately needed”.

The ‘club drug’ was already known to be effective against some white blood cell cancers, but the large dose required to treat a tumour would have killed the patient.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Western Australia have spent the last six years developing the treatment. The aim was to try to separate and isolate the drug’s cancer-busting properties so that patients only received the beneficial ingredients.

Dr Grant said that further research is required but the results so far are “a significant step forward in developing a potential new cancer drug”.

Professor John Gordon, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “While we do not wish to give people false hope, the results of this research hold the potential for improvements in treatments in years to come.”

MDMA can reduce anxiety and induce euphoria and a sense of intimacy with others. In most countries, the possession, manufacture and sale of ecstasy is illegal.

Scientists plan to progress to pre-clinical trials soon, and the findings of this current study are published in the journal Investigational New Drugs.

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