The drug combination was developed by Corixa which was purchased by GlaxoSmithKline in 2005.[3] It was sold for about $25,000 for one round of treatment.[4] Bexxar competed with Zevalin,[5] until the former's discontinuation in 2014.[6]
The radioactive dose was adjusted for each patient in order to maximize the radiation delivered to the tumor and minimize the exposure of other organs.[1][9]: 14–15 Bexxar combined separate administration of unlabelled and iodine-labelled (i.e. covalently bondedto131I) tositumomab. A first dose of labelled antibody was given once, and whole-body radiation was measured with a gamma camera over seven days. Analysis of that imaging data allowed an optimal dose of labelled antibody to be calculated, which was then administered once a day, for up to seven days.[1][9]: 14–15 Each time the labelled antibody was administered, it was always preceded by unlabelled (non-radioactive) antibody. Early clinical trials had shown that total body residence times of radioactivity were longer in people who first received unlabelled antibody, so that a lower dose of labelled antibody was needed to deliver the required total dose of radiation; additionally labelled antibody targeted tumors better in people pre-treated with unlabelled antibody.[9]: 21
Following a first investigational new drug application in 1989 and biologics license application in 2000, Bexxar was approved by the FDA in 2003.[10][8] Sale of Bexxar was discontinued and marketing approval was withdrawn in February 2014 due to a decline in usage (fewer than 75 patients in 2012). One possible explanation for the lack of demand, despite a claimed 70% response rate, was that oncologists could not sell it directly to patients but had to refer patients to third party specialist centers, however a "muddled clinical trials strategy", supply chain issues, reimbursement problems, and emergence of non-radioactive competitors has also been blamed.[6][5][11]
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