AstraZeneca pulls leukemia drug Lumoxiti off market after disappointing sales

Two years after discontinuing (PDF) the use of rare blood cancer treatment Lumoxiti in Europe, AstraZeneca has done the same in the U.S.

In a letter to healthcare providers, the company said it would pull (PDF) the treatment from the market in July of this year and advised distributors to return packages of the drug starting in August.

The infused checkpoint inhibitor was approved by the FDA in September of 2018 for relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia (HCL). Lumoxiti was to be used by those who tried two prior lines of therapy, including purine nucleoside analog (PNA).

“There has been very low clinical uptake of Lumoxiti since FDA approval,” AstraZeneca wrote in the letter, citing the availability of other treatment options and “the specialized complexity of administration, toxicity prophylaxis and safety monitoring needs.”

The decision is not related to the safety or efficacy of the product, the company added in the letter.

Physicians were advised against starting new patients on Lumoxiti. Making the move effective in July allows physicians currently treating patients to complete six cycles.

Just 15 months after it was approved, Innate of France pulled out of a commercialization deal with AstraZeneca citing poor uptake. In the first half of 2021, Innate reported just $1 million in sales. Upon its approval, analysts from Jefferies pegged its peak sales at $500 million. It was designated as an orphan drug in 2013.

Other treatments for HCL include Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica and Roche’s Rituxan and Zelboraf.