Study to Evaluate Imetelstat (GRN163L) in Participants With International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) Low or Intermediate-1 Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of imetelstat sodium in transfusion-dependent participants with low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) that is relapsed/refractory to erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) treatment in Phase 2 study and to compare the efficacy, in terms of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion independence (TI), of imetelstat sodium to placebo in transfusion-dependent participants with low or intermediate-1 risk MDS that is relapsed/refractory to ESA treatment in Phase 3 study. A separate Ventricular Repolarization Substudy (QTc Substudy) will evaluate the effect of imetelstat sodium on ventricular repolarization. An Extension Phase has been included to allow continued treatment for those participants who are benefitting from imetelstat sodium and to continue to evaluate the long-term safety, overall survival (OS), and disease progression, including progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in transfusion-dependent participants with low or immediate-1 risk MDS that is relapsed/refractory to ESA treatment.

Timeline

Start

2016-01-12

Primary completion

2023-10-13

Completion

2026-10-13

Publications

• Sekeres MA, Zeidan AM, Santini V, Komrokji RS, Fenaux P, Savona MR, Madanat YF, Valcarcel D, Regnault A, Creel K, Sun L, Wan Y, Navada S, Berry T, Feller F, Platzbecker U, Diez-Campelo M, Oliva EN. Imetelstat improves patient-reported outcomes and quality of life in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes: results from the phase III IMerge study. Haematologica. 2026 Jul 1;111(7):2385-2396. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2025.288956. Epub 2026 Jan 22.
• Kim N, Pulte ED, Ehrlich LA, Ionan AC, Haupert S, Vallejo J, Green F, Zheng N, Wang Y, Liu J, Blanco JG, Dorff SE, Booth B, Choe M, Gehrke B, Bhatnagar V, Theoret M, Pazdur R, De Claro RA, Norsworthy KJ. US Food and Drug Administration Approval Summary: Imetelstat for Selected Patients With Low- to Intermediate-1 Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes With Transfusion-Dependent Anemia. J Clin Oncol. 2025 Dec 10;43(35):3760-3768. doi: 10.1200/JCO-25-01369. Epub 2025 Oct 24.
• Platzbecker U, Santini V, Fenaux P, Sekeres MA, Savona MR, Madanat YF, Diez-Campelo M, Valcarcel D, Illmer T, Jonasova A, Belohlavkova P, Sherman LJ, Berry T, Dougherty S, Shah S, Xia Q, Sun L, Wan Y, Huang F, Ikin A, Navada S, Feller F, Komrokji RS, Zeidan AM. Imetelstat in patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes who have relapsed or are refractory to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (IMerge): a multinational, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2024 Jan 20;403(10423):249-260. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01724-5. Epub 2023 Dec 1.
• Steensma DP, Fenaux P, Van Eygen K, Raza A, Santini V, Germing U, Font P, Diez-Campelo M, Thepot S, Vellenga E, Patnaik MM, Jang JH, Varsos H, Bussolari J, Rose E, Sherman L, Sun L, Wan Y, Dougherty S, Huang F, Feller F, Rizo A, Platzbecker U. Imetelstat Achieves Meaningful and Durable Transfusion Independence in High Transfusion-Burden Patients With Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes in a Phase II Study. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Jan 1;39(1):48-56. doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.01895. Epub 2020 Oct 27.

Drugs

Indications