Dr. Viprakasit on the Results of the BELIEVE Trial With Luspatercept in Beta-Thalassemia

Vip Viprakasit, MD, DPhil, professor of Pediatrics, and director, Thalassemia Research, Siriraj-Thalassemia Center, Siriaj Hospital, discusses the results of the multicenter BELIEVE trial with luspatercept (Reblozyl) in adult patients with β-thalassemia.

Investigators accrued 336 patients from 65 sites across 17 countries to the trial, says Viprakasit. In the phase III BELIEVE trial, investigators evaluated luspatercept versus placebo in patients with β-thalassemia who required regular red blood cell (RBC) transfusions. The primary end point of the trial was ≥33% reduction of RBC transfusion burden from baseline between weeks 13-24 versus the 12 weeks prior to randomization.

The results showed that the primary end point was met in 76.3% of patients in the luspatercept arm versus 34.8% in the placebo arm (P <.0001). After the 24-week period, 45.1% of patients in the luspatercept arm continued to experience the reduction of RBC transfusion burden versus 2.7% of patients in the placebo arm (P <.0001), showing that responses were durable, concludes Viprakasit.