STAT+: Silence Therapeutics aims at Takeda with new data in rare blood cancer — SkimNews
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- Silence Therapeutics reported that 88% of patients receiving its drug divesiran every 6 or 12 weeks achieved a clinical response in a 48-person Phase 2 polycythemia vera trial, compared with 19% on placebo.
- Divesiran stabilized red blood cell levels in patients with the rare blood cancer, the company said Monday.
- Polycythemia vera is marked by runaway red blood cell production and puts patients at risk of life-threatening blood clots, bleeds, and other cancers, according to the source.
- Silence Therapeutics is positioning divesiran to compete with a drug from Takeda Pharmaceuticals that is nearing approval for the same condition.
Why it matters: Silence Therapeutics now has Phase 2 data — 88% response versus 19% on placebo — to challenge Takeda's nearer-to-approval rival in polycythemia vera, a rare cancer where uncontrolled red blood cell production leaves patients at risk of blood clots, bleeds, and secondary cancers and where a second effective therapy could matter for patients with limited options.
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