Simon Rule, MD, PhD, professor of hematology, University of Plymouth, shares his thoughts on the FDA’s decision to grant zanubrutinib, a BTK inhibitor, priority review for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Should the drug be approved, it will be available for patients with MCL who have received at least 1 prior line of therapy.

Rule says he has used 5 BTK inhibitors now for patients with MCL, and they all work. These agents have had the same activity, in his opinion, but they have different toxicity profiles. He is pleased to potentially have another BTK inhibitor become available in this space.

Although there is excitement around having a new drug entering this space, he thinks it is possible that there will be added pressure on pricing and making these drugs more widely available for patients with MCL. In the United Kingdom, acalabrutinib (Calquence) is not available yet for these patients, as it is in the United States, but with zanubrutinib coming down the pipeline, it can only be good for patients with MCL.

The FDA has set a target action date to make a decision on this agent by February 27, 2020.

For more resources and information regarding anticancer targeted therapies in mantle cell lymphoma: [ Ссылка ]

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