VIDEO: Letermovir CMV prophylaxis offers survival benefit in hematopoietic cell transplant patients

SAN DIEGO — Francisco Marty, MD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and attending physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, reviews the efficacy of letermovir as prophylaxis for cytomegalovirus in high-risk hematopoietic cell transplant patients.

Previous data from a phase 3 trial showed that letermovir was highly effective at preventing infections in patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and were CMV-seropositive at the time of transplant. The results also showed that letermovir was well-tolerated, with most side effects comparable to placebo. More recent data presented at IDWeek indicate that letermovir, which is currently undergoing regulatory review, is associated with a persistent survival benefit 48 weeks post-HCT compared with placebo.

“We are very encouraged by the results that we’ve seen and analyzed so far,” Marty says. “There’s going to be a second confirmatory trial in kidney transplantation. I hope people who deal with these patients in the ID and transplant community will participate. I think it’s an important trial.”

Reference:

Maertens J, et al. Abstract 1029. Presented at: IDWeek; Oct. 4-8, 2017; San Diego.

Disclosure: Marty reports being a consultant, grant investigator and scientific advisor for Merck.