Millennium Expands VELCADE(R) (Bortezomib) For Injection Program In Non-Hodgkin'...( - Building on Phase III registrat...),Health

- Building on Phase III registration trial of VELCADE and rituximab, Millennium initiates new clinical trial with novel combination of VELCADE with bendamustine and rituximab to further advance treatment of patients

with follicular lymphoma -

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MLNM) today announced the initiation of a multi-center, Phase II trial to evaluate VELCADE in combination with emerging agent, bendamustine, and current standard of care, rituximab, in patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma, a subset of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This trial is part of the Company's comprehensive development program in NHL, which represents a significant growth opportunity for VELCADE.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991220/MLNMLOGO )

"We designed this trial to combine three active agents in NHL with the goal of enhancing the clinical outcomes of this patient population," said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Millennium. "We are hopeful this novel combination will add to the growing body of data that show the potential of VELCADE to be part of the standard of care in follicular lymphoma, similar to what we've seen in multiple myeloma."

The primary endpoint of the open-label trial is complete remission with secondary endpoints including progression free survival and duration of remission. The trial is expected to enroll approximately 75 patients.

In previous studies, VELCADE as a single-agent and as part of combination therapy has shown promising remission rates and time-to-disease progression in patients with NHL. Th
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