FDA approves new drug for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for leukemia made by Genentech, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the approval of Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for treating patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia, in combination with the chemotherapy drug chlorambucil. The drug works by helping certain cells in the immune system attack cancer cells.

CLL is a blood and bone marrow disease that usually gets worse slowly, and according to the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, 15,680 people in the United States will be diagnosed with the disease, and 4,580 will die from it.