FDA Approvals, News & Updates

On July 20, 2023, the FDA approved quizartinib (Vanflyta; Daiichi Sankyo) with standard cytarabine and anthracycline induction and cytarabine consolidation, and as maintenance monotherapy after consolidation chemotherapy, for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that is FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD)–positive, as detected by an FDA-approved test.

On June 20, 2023, the FDA approved a new indication for talazoparib (Talzenna; Pfizer), a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, in combination with enzalutamide (Xtandi; Astellas) for homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene mutation–positive, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The FDA granted this application priority review.

On July 19, 2023, an EF3 tornado touched down in Rocky Mount, NC, badly damaging a Pfizer drug manufacturing facility that is responsible for producing nearly 25% of Pfizer’s sterile injectable medicines used in US hospitals.

On March 22, 2023, the FDA granted accelerated approval to retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz; Incyte Corporation), a programmed cell death 1–blocking antibody, for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel-cell carcinoma.

On March 16, 2023, the FDA approved dabrafenib (Tafinlar; Novartis) in combination with trametinib (Mekinist; Novartis) for the treatment of pediatric patients aged ≥1 year with low-grade glioma that harbors a BRAF ^V600E mutation and who require systemic therapy.

On March 3, 2023, the FDA approved abemaciclib (Verzenio; Eli Lilly) plus endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor) for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer at high risk for recurrence.

On February 9, 2023, the FDA approved dostarlimab-gxly (Jemperli; GlaxoSmithKline) for the treatment of adult patients with mismatch repair-deficient, recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer, as determined by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or following a previous platinum-containing regimen in any setting and who are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation.

On February 3, 2023, the FDA approved sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy; Gilead Sciences/Immunomedics) for the treatment of patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative (immunohistochemistry [IHC] 0, IHC 1+, or IHC 2+ with a negative in situ hybridization test) breast cancer who have received endocrine-based therapy and at least 2 additional systemic therapies in the metastatic setting.

On December 12, 2022, the FDA accelerated the approval of adagrasib (Krazati; Mirati Therapeutics), a RAS GTPase inhibitor, for adults with locally advanced or metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and KRAS^G12C mutation (as determined by an FDA-approved test) who have received at least 1 systemic therapy.

On December 9, 2022, the FDA approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq; Genentech), a PD-L1 inhibitor, for patients aged ≥2 years with unresectable or metastatic alveolar soft-part sarcoma (ASPS), a type of soft-tissue sarcoma.