FDA Approvals, News & Updates

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib (Gilotrif; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R substitution.

The FDA denied the approval of a New Drug Application for tivozanib, which was submitted by its manu­facturer (Aveo Pharmaceuticals/Astellas), for the treatment of renal-cell carcinoma.

The FDA approved lenalidomide capsules (Revlimid; Celgene Cor­poration) for the treatment of patients with mantle-cell lymphoma whose disease has relapsed or progressed after 2 previous therapies, one of which included bortezomib (Velcade). Lenalidomide is already approved for multiple myeloma (as is bortezomib).

One of the FDA’s highest priorities at the moment is providing guidance on drugs and medical devices to drug and device companies on their use of social media, according to Tom Abrams, head of the FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion.

The FDA warned healthcare professionals about potential medication errors resulting from confusion with the nonproprietary name for the recently approved breast cancer drug ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla; also known as T-DM1).