The FDA has approved omidubicel-onlv (Omisirge®, Gamida Cell Ltd.) for treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 and older with hematologic malignancies, to minimize the time to neutrophil recovery and incidence of infection following myeloablative conditioning for umbilical cord transplantation. Approved population: adults and pediatric patients ≥12 with hematologic malignancies Why it matters: "Early-phase studies have demonstrated that ex vivo expansion of umbilical cord blood (UCB) s...

The FDA has approved zanubrutinib (Brukinsa®, BeiGene USA, Inc.) for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and its tissue counterpart, small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). "Zanubrutinib is a next-generation, selective Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor with efficacy in relapsed CLL and SLL," wrote Constantine Tam, MD, the Director of Hematology at St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues, in their abstract of the SEQUOIA trial (NCT03336333), one of the studies on which...

The FDA has granted approval to tremelimumab (Imjudo®, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals) in combination with durvalumab for adult patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). "Patients with unresectable liver cancer are in need of well-tolerated treatments that can meaningfully extend overall survival," remarked Ghassan Abou-Alfa, MD, MBA, an Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, regarding the HIMALAYA trial (NCT03298451), on which approval was ...