FDA Approvals, News & Updates

On February 9, 2021, the FDA approved a new indication for cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo; Regeneron/sanofi-aventis) for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic basal-cell carcinoma (BCC) in patients who had received or are ineligible to receive a hedgehog inhibitor. The FDA granted cemiplimab a priority review and accelerated its approval for this indication.

On February 3, 2021, the FDA accelerated the approval of oral tepotinib (Tepmetko; EMD Serono) for adults with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping alterations. This approval is for treatment-naïve patients as well as for patients who have received previous therapy. Tepotinib is the second MET inhibitor approved by the FDA and should be selected for treatment based on the presence of METex14. The FDA has granted tepotinib breakthrough therapy and orphan drug designations.

On December 18, 2020, the FDA approved relugolix (Orgovyx; Myovant Sciences), an oral gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist, for the treatment of adults with advanced prostate cancer. Relugolix is the first oral androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) and the first oral GnRH receptor antagonist approved for patients with advanced prostate cancer. The FDA granted relugolix priority review for this indication.

On December 16, 2020, the FDA approved margetuximab-cmkb (Margenza; MacroGenics) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of adults with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received ≥2 previous anti-HER2 regimens, of which at least 1 was for metastatic disease. The application for this approval received a fast-track designation.

On January 14, 2021, the FDA approved crizotinib (Xalkori; Pfizer) for the treatment of young patients aged 1 to 21 years with relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) and ALK mutation. The safety and efficacy of crizotinib have not been established in older adults with this diagnosis. The FDA granted this application priority review and breakthrough therapy and orphan drug designations. Crizotinib was previously approved for patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer and ALK or ROS1 mutation.

On December 18, 2020, the FDA approved osimertinib (Tagrisso; AstraZeneca) for adjuvant therapy after tumor resection in patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA approved this application 2 months ahead of the FDA goal date and granted it a breakthrough therapy designation. Osimertinib was previously approved for the first-line treatment of metastatic NSCLC and EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations, and for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC and EGFR T790M mutation after EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.

On December 18, 2020, the FDA approved selinexor (Xpovio; Karyopharm Therapeutics) in combination with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone for the treatment of adults with multiple myeloma after ≥1 previous therapies. The FDA granted this indication an orphan drug designation.

On December 1, 2020, the FDA approved Gallium 68 PSMA-11 (Ga 68 PSMA-11; University of California), the first drug for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive lesions in men with prostate cancer. Ga 68 PSMA-11 is indicated for men with suspected metastatic prostate cancer that may be curable by surgery or by radiation, and for suspected recurrent prostate cancer based on elevated serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

On November 25, 2020, the FDA granted accelerated approval to naxitamab-gqgk (Danyelza; Y-mAbs Therapeutics), a GD2-binding monoclonal antibody, in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory high-risk neuroblastoma in the bone or bone marrow in pediatric patients aged ≥1 year and adults who achieved a partial response, minor response, or stable disease after receiving previous therapy. The FDA granted naxitamab priority review and breakthrough therapy, orphan drug, and rare pediatric disease designations.

On September 1, 2020, the FDA approved azacitidine (Onureg; Celgene), an oral nucleoside metabolic inhibitor, for maintenance treatment of adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who had first complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete blood count recovery after intensive induction chemotherapy and who are not candidates for intensive curative therapy. The FDA granted azacitidine an orphan drug designation and used its priority review for this indication.