# Trilaciclib

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/trilaciclib/  
OnCo record `trilaciclib` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Trilaciclib is given as an infusion just before chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer to put the bone marrow's stem cells briefly to sleep, so fewer are killed and patients need fewer transfusions and growth factor injections.

## Summary

G1 Therapeutics developed trilaciclib as a myeloprotectant rather than an anticancer drug. In three randomised trials in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer it cut the duration and incidence of severe neutropenia, red cell transfusions and growth factor use without reducing tumour responses, because small cell lung cancer lacks functional retinoblastoma protein and is not paused by CDK4/6 inhibition. The FDA approved it in February 2021 to decrease chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression in adults receiving platinum with etoposide or topotecan for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. A trial in triple-negative breast cancer did not confirm a survival advantage, and Pharmacosmos acquired the drug in 2024.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Also known as: G1T28
- Tags: gap-fill; chembl-universe
- Brand: Cosela
- Modality: Intravenous CDK4/6 inhibitor given before chemotherapy to protect bone marrow
- Mechanism: A short-acting CDK4/6 inhibitor that pauses haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in G1 for the hours chemotherapy is present, so the cytotoxic drugs kill fewer of them.
- Approvals: US 2021: To decrease chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression in adults receiving platinum-etoposide or topotecan for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilaciclib
- Drugs@FDA NDA214200: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&ApplNo=214200
- Label (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?labeltype=all&query=trilaciclib
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilaciclib

## Connected records

- cancers: [Small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/sclc/)
- technologies: [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/)
- targets: [CDK4/6](https://onco.cc/targets/cdk4-6/)
- drugs: [Etoposide](https://onco.cc/drugs/etoposide/), [Topotecan](https://onco.cc/drugs/topotecan/)
- companies: [G1 Therapeutics](https://onco.cc/companies/g1-therapeutics/), [Pharmacosmos](https://onco.cc/companies/pharmacosmos/)
- trials: [Effect of Trilaciclib in the Prevention of Myelosupression in Subjects With Limited-stage Small Cell Lung Cancer](https://onco.cc/trials/nct07473128/)

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