Will it relapse after taking Venetoclax?

The clinical benefit of adding venetoclax to hypomethylating drugs or low-dose cytarabine has been demonstrated in a Phase 3 study in older and/or unhealthy patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia(AML). As more and more patients with acute myelogenous leukemia receive venetoclax-based therapy, the decision as to whether treatment can be safely discontinued will require a physician's diagnostic decision.

A clinical study reported the retrospective results of 29 patients in remission who received venetoclax-based therapy for at least 12 months, of whom 55% continued treatment until disease progression and 45% electively discontinued treatment. After more than 5 years of follow-up, the median duration of treatment-free remission in the discontinuation cohort was observed to be 45.8 months, with more than 50% of patients still in ongoing remission at the time of data cutoff. The risk of recurrence, recurrence-free duration, and overall survival were similar in both cohorts. Factors favoring sustained TFR in the cohort included NPM1 and/or IDH2 mutations at diagnosis, complete response without measurable residual disease, and at least 12 months of venetoclax-based combination therapy before discontinuation of treatment.

The original drug of Venacla is already on the market in China and can be found in the Category B medical insurance directory. The price of each box of 100mg*14 tablets may be around RMB 5,000. The Turkish version of the original drug Venekra, which is marketed overseas, has a specification of 100mg*112 tablets and the price per box is around RMB 10,000 (the price may fluctuate due to the exchange rate), which is even more expensive. Cheaper generic drugs are also sold overseas, and their pharmaceutical ingredients are basically the same as those of the original drugs. The price of a box of 100mg*120 tablets produced by a Bangladeshi pharmaceutical factory is around RMB 4,000 (prices may fluctuate due to exchange rates).