CTI BioPharma Reports Positive Patient-reported Outcome From Pacritinib Study

(RTTNews) - CTI BioPharma Corp. (CTIC) and Baxter International's BioScience business (BAX) announced new patient-reported outcome, or PRO, data for pacritinib - an investigational oral multikinase inhibitor with specificity for JAK2 and FLT3 - from the Phase 3 PERSIST-1 study. The company said the results show a significant reduction in the Total Symptom Score, and in each individual common disease-related symptom, from baseline to Week 24, in patients treated with pacritinib compared to best available therapy.

PERSIST-1 is a randomized, controlled Phase 3 registration-directed trial comparing the efficacy and safety of pacritinib to best available therapy in 327 patients with myelofibrosis. The company previously announced that the PERSIST-1 trial met its primary endpoint of spleen volume reduction of 35 percent or greater from baseline to Week 24 as measured by MRI/CT scan.

James Bianco, President and CEO of CTI BioPharma, said: "These new data from the PERSIST-1 study further support our belief, not only in the activity of pacritinib, but also the potential to positively impact patients' daily lives by relieving the symptoms that accompany myelofibrosis."