In a first, FDA green-lights use of a Chinese built cancer therapy — and more are coming
Weeks after Amgen
took a $2.7 billion stake in BeiGene, the Beijing-based biotech has secured
its first-ever FDA approval for zanubrutinib, a BTK inhibitor, months ahead
of schedule.
BeiGene’s drug,
branded as Brukinsa, has secured accelerated
approval for adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) — a typically
aggressive, rare, form of blood cancer — who have received at least one prior
therapy.
The approval is
based on data from patients that were largely based outside of the United
States. The main trial relied upon in the marketing application is a
single-arm, 86-patient trial, which showe...