Research Finds Biosimilar Filgrastim as Efficient as Its Reference in PBSC Mobilization

In patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are eligible for autologous blood stem cell transplantation, high-dose chemotherapy followed by transplantation is standard first-line therapy. After a patient receives 3 to 4 cycles of induction therapy, 1 cycle of mobilization-specific chemotherapy is typically followed by the administration of a granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) treatment to facilitate the mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) prior to collection.

A recent study, published in Transfusion, analyzed 3 G-CSF treatments in an attempt to compare the mobilization efficiency of 2 innovator G-CSF treatments with that of 1 biosimilar treatment.

The retrospective study compared the mobilization efficiency of reference filgrastim (Neupogen), lenograstim (Granocyte), and biosimilar filgrastim (Filgrastim Hexal) in a homogeneous group of 250 patients with MM in first-line treatment. Of this group, 30% (n = 73) received the reference filgrastim, 52% (n = 131) received biosimilar filgrastim, and 18% (n = 45) received lenograstim. Each patient received a subcutaneous dose of 5 to 10 µg per kilogram of body weight beginning at day 5 after chemomobilization until the collection of CD34-positive (CD34+) cells was complete.

The study found that there were no significant differences in mobilization of CD34+ cells or in collection yields among the reference filgrastim group (median: 10 CD34+ cells × 10⁶/kg body weight; range: 2.7 to 40.4), the biosimilar filgrastim group (median: 9.9; range: 0.2 to 26.0) and the lenograsim group (median 10.7; range: 3.1 to 27.9). Overall, 249 of the 250 patients reached the collection goal of 2 × 10⁶ CD34+ cells per kilogram of body weight during a median of 1 (range: 1 to 3) collection session.

The researchers concluded that there were no significant differences in PBSC mobilization or in reaching individual collection targets among innovator treatments and the biosimilar treatment in patients with MM.