assessment report on 29 May 2009. The drug was approved for use in Canada by Health Canada on 8 December 2011. Research Anti-cancer properties Plerixafor was seen to reduce metastasis in mice in several studies. It has also been shown to reduce recurrence of glioblastoma in a mouse model after radiotherapy. In this model, the cancer cells that survived radiation critically depended on bone marrow derived cells for vasculogenesis, and the recruitment of the latter was mediated by SDF-1 CXCR4 interactions, which are blocked by plerixafor. Use in stem cell research Researchers at Imperial College have demonstrated that plerixafor in combination with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) can mobilise mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells into the peripheral blood of mice. In double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial, stem cell mobilization with plerixafor did not improve healing of ischemic diabetic wounds. Neurologic Blockade of CXCR4 signalling by plerixafor has also unexpectedly been found to be effective at counteracting opioid-induced hyperalgesia produced by chronic treatment with morphine, though only animal studies have been conducted as yet. References External links Orphan drugs Immunostimulants Nitrogen heterocycles Sanofi