FDA approves blood cancer drug

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for treating multiple myeloma, the agency said Friday.



The FDA announced the approval of South San Francisco, Calif.-based Onyx Pharmaceuticals' Kyprolis (carfilzomib). The drug is designed for patients with the disease who have received at least two prior therapies, including Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s Velcade (bortezomib) and an immunomodulatory therapy. Multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that usually grows in the bone marrow, is expected to be diagnosed in about 21,700 people this year, according to the American Cancer Society, while 10,710 will die from it.



"The approval of Kyprolis provides a treatment option to patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has progressed despite use of available therapies," FDA Office of Hematology and Oncology Products director Richard Pazdur said. "We are encouraged by the continued progress in the development of drugs for multiple myeloma over the past decade, offering improved treatment of this disease."

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