Conference Reports
48th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting
Orlando, Florida, USA, 9th - 12th December 2006
The Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida, played host to this years American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. Now in its 48th year, the meeting welcomed nearly 20,000 haematologists from around the world to discuss critical issues in haematology, whilst providing an excellent educational programme and scientific sessions in breakthrough and pioneering science. The ASH06 newspaper proved a great breakfast supplement, providing delegates with daily news as to the coming day's events.
From the off, the meeting had much potential. Indeed, revelry in the lobby was quickly underway with many suited professionals sipping wine and ardently studying the numerous haematology based headlines dotted around the room, whilst taking the opportunity for preconference networking. With satellite symposia filling the following day's schedule, sponsored by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi-Aventis to name but a few, delegates eagerly anticipated the comprehensive schedule of the days ahead.
The poster sessions, graphically demonstrating the latest and most exciting developments in scientific research, proved a great success, triggering a vast number of deep and animated discussions. Saturday saw poster sessions including those on 'Mechanism of Erythropoiesis', with evaluations of Affymax's Hematide in chemotherapy-induced anaemia, as well as 'Novel Antithrombotics' such as Boehringer-Ingelheim's BIBT- 986, which demonstrated safety and toxicity in a Phase I trial.
Sunday's poster session was not to be outdone. The 'Lymphoma: chemotherapy' clinical section boasted 59 posters alone, demonstrating successful results with romidepsin in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, as well as trials evaluating ibritumomab tiuxetan as part of a regimen with mitozantrone, fludarabine phosphate and rituximab. These latter regimens resulted in 30/30 complete responses (CRs) in treatment-naive follicular lymphoma patients, and 15 CRs and 2 partial responses in 17 evaluable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. Non- Hodgkin's lymphoma also had its own 'Novel and Targeted Therapy' section, which included Phase I study results in GPC Biotech's human monoclonal antibody 1D09C3, which has preliminarily demonstrated a good safety profile and appears well tolerated. Similarly, focused on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Immunomedics' antibody, hA20, has demonstrated efficacy at low doses, leading to ongoing investigations of further dose reductions.
For those seeking more light-hearted information, the exhibition hall perfectly combined business with pleasure with the 'Build-your-own-blood-clot' computer game, pharmacology-themed pinball, and golf on a miniature putting-green!
Oral-sessions began on the Sunday, with highlights including Alizyme's promising oral mucositis therapy ATL-104, which reduced the number of days patients were unable to eat solid food; and Micromet's MT-103, which has been shown to produce CRs in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of the Multiple Myeloma Center, Boston, also revealed its new strategy for multiple myeloma; its BAFF antibody, is due to enter clinical trials shortly.
In a bustling and crowded room, AkaRx reported details of a highly successful Phase II trial with its extremely promising thrombopoietin agonist, AKR-50. Delegates heard how 10mg/day surpassed its primary endpoint of a >50% increase in platelet count from baseline within 14 days in 5 patients. Meeting the necessary FDA requirements, the study has already gone on to complete dosing at 20mg/day, which was halted at day 10 as, yet again, it had already reached the 50% platelet count increase in 5 patients. Further Phase II trials are expected, hopefully providing new hope in thrombocytopenia.
Twilight entertainment perfectly complemented the conference, giving ample opportunity to eat, drink and be merry in preparation for the Christmas to come. Saturday night at the Backstage Night Club was buzzing with energy, and with the chinking of glasses and exuberant displays of dancing, delegates spirits were raised for the days ahead. Sunday night also proved an exceptional evening, with the excitement of the STS- 116 shuttle launch, which drew large crowds to the hotel forecourts to watch as the bright tail flame of the shuttle disappeared rapidly into the night.
As the sun set on the 48th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting for another year, future developments in haematology seemed promising, with many companies demonstrating the potential of many new life-saving treatments.
The 49th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition will be held in Atlanta, USA on 8th - 11th Dec 2007.
Samantha Richards
Pharmaprojects Analyst
