Pralatrexate, sold under the brand name Folotyn, is a medication used for the treatment of relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).[3][4]
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Trade names | Folotyn |
AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
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Routes of administration | Intravenous |
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ECHA InfoCard | 100.205.791 |
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Formula | C23H23N7O5 |
Molar mass | 477.481 g·mol−1 |
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Pralatrexate was approved for medical use in the United States in September 2009, as the first treatment for Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma (PTCL), an often aggressive type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.[4][5]
Pralatrexate is indicated for the treatment of people with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).[3]
Pralatrexate is a dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor.[3]
Research on this class of drugs began in the 1950s at SRI International, where scientists were focused on developing new chemotherapies and antifolates that would be effective against tumor cells.[6]
In the late 1970s, researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center discovered that cancerous cells take in natural folate through a protein identified as plasma membrane transporter (now referred to as "reduced folate carrier type 1" or "RFC-1"). Further research showed that when normal cells evolve into cancerous cells they often overproduce RFC-1 to ensure they get enough folate.[7]
A subsequent scientific collaboration was ultimately formed among SRI International, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the Southern Research Institute with the intention of developing an antifolate with greater therapeutic selectivity – an agent that could be more effectively internalized into tumors (transported into the cells through RFC-1) and would be more toxic to cancer cells than normal cells.[7]
This collaboration, supported by the National Cancer Institute,[8] led to the identification of pralatrexate in the mid-1990s. Pralatrexate was later licensed to Allos Therapeutics in 2002 for further development.[9] Allos Therapeutics, Inc. was acquired by Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. on September 5, 2012. Allos is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spectrum.[10]
Pralatrexate was approved for medical use in the United States in September 2009.[5][4]
Some oncologists, patient groups, and insurance companies criticized the cost of $30,000 a month or more, which could reach a total of $126,000 during a course of treatment.[11]
The price of the new drug, called Folotyn, is at least triple that of other drugs that critics have said are too expensive for the benefits they offer to patients.