AML is a rapidly progressing form of leukemia, which, in elderly patients, often results in death within a few months of diagnosis. Although the number of cases of AML is difficult to track on a global scale, based on available information, it is estimated that more than 60,000 new cases will be diagnosed worldwide in 2004. This includes nearly 12,000 new cases in the U.S. alone. Approximately 65 percent of new cases are expected to occur in adults age 65 or over. AML is expected to claim an estimated 8,870 lives in the U.S. in 2004.
Tipifarnib was discovered and developed at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development. Administered orally, tipifarnib is believed to inhibit farnesyl transferase, an enzyme required for activation of multiple tumor-growth pathways.
The ASH meeting featured presentations of tipifarnib datasets in AML and other areas of research, including the following abstracts:
Saturday, December 4
Monday, December 6
Publication only
About Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. (J&JPRD) is part of Johnson & Johnson, the world's most broad-based producer of healthcare products. J&JPRD, with its headquarters in Raritan, New Jersey (USA), has nine sites throughout Europe and the United States. J&JPRD employs approximately 3,500 people and is leveraging drug discovery, drug evaluation, and drug development in a variety of therapeutic areas to address unmet medical needs worldwide. The company's major therapeutic areas of focus include hematology, oncology, infectious disease, obesity and metabolic disorders, neurology and psychiatry, pain and women's health.