US regulators have given the green light to BLENREP, a GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) drug for hard-to-treat type of bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma.
Under the terms of the sign-off by the Food & Drug Administration, it can be prescribed to patients who have failed to respond to at least four prior therapies.
BLENREP is the fifth major medicine approval for GSK and the second from its oncology portfolio.
"As the second most common form of blood cancer in the US, multiple myeloma is an incurable and devastating disease,” said the drugs giant’s chief scientific officer, Dr Hal Barron.
“BLENREP is the first approved anti-BCMA therapy and has the potential to transform the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory myeloma who have limited treatment options today.''
According to analysts, the product is the first approved drug to target the B-cell maturation antigen, or BCMA for short. This is a protein that is overexpressed in multiple myeloma that scientists have been trying to target for more than a decade.