FDA Approves New Leukemia Drug

Washington, DC (AHN) – The Food and Drug Administration approved a drug this week aimed at treating a form of chronic leukemia.

The decision was part of the agency’s “accelerated approval” process that allows drugs to be approved for patients with limited medical options to treat certain chronic diseases, according to an FDA statement.

The drug, Arzerra, is made to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a slowly progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. About 16,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year, and about 4,400 die from it, according to the FDA.

Arzerra works by binding to a specific protein found on the surface of both benign and malignant white blood cells, which makes them more susceptible to attack by the immune system, the FDA said. It is prescribed to patients whose cancer is no longer controlled by chemotherapy.

Under the accelerated approval policy, the drug’s maker, GlaxoSmithKline, is required to conduct further clinical trials.

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