FDA OKs stem cell therapy for blood cancer patients to reduce infection risks

The Food and Drug Administration approved omidubicel-onlv (Omisirge) for reducing infections and hastening neutrophil recovery for blood cancer patients aged 12 years and older who are undergoing allogeneic umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants.

Omidubicel is made from umbilical cord donor stem cells that are processed with nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B₃, to enhance and expand the number of progenitor cells, the product’s maker, Jerusalem-based Gamida Cell, explained in a press announcement.

The FDA approval was based on phase 3 testing that pitted the use of omidubicel in 62 patients against standard unmanipulated cord blood transplants in 63 patients following myeloablative conditioning.

The median time to neutrophil recovery was 12 days in the omidubicel group, compared with 22 days with standard care. Overall, 87% of patients who received omidubicel achieved neutrophil recovery versus 83% of patients with standard transplants.

The incidence of grade 2/3 bacterial or grade 3 fungal infections 100 days following transplant was 39% with omidubicel versus 60% with standard transplants.

The FDA’s “approval is an important advance in cell therapy treatment in patients with blood cancers. Hastening the return of the body’s white blood cells can reduce the possibility of serious or overwhelming infection associated with stem cell transplantation,” Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in an agency press release.

Abbey Jenkins, president and CEO of Gamida, called the approval “a major advancement in the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies that we believe may increase access to stem cell transplant and help improve patient outcomes.”

The most common grade 3–5 adverse reactions in the approval study were pain (33%), mucosal inflammation (31%), hypertension (25%), and gastrointestinal toxicity (19%).

Adverse events are consistent with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Among 117 patients who received omidubicel for any indication, infusion reactions occurred in 47% of patients, acute graft-versus-host disease occurred in 58%, chronic GVHD occurred in 35%, and graft failure occurred in 3%. Labeling includes a boxed warning of the possibilities. There is also a small risk of infections and malignancies from donor blood.

Omidubicel is manufactured in Gamida’s facility in Kiryat Gat, Israel. It is available for order now and is expected to be delivered to transplant centers within 30 days after the start of manufacturing, the company said.

A version of this article originally appeared on Medscape.com.