AstraZeneca have received the Breakthrough Therapy Designation for acalabrutinib by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA granted the approval for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma, a rare type of blood cancer.
Acalabrutinib is an investigational, highly selective, Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor in development for the treatment of multiple B-cell cancers.
"New treatments are urgently needed for people with mantle cell lymphoma who relapse or do not respond to therapy," said Sean Bohen, executive vice president, global medicines development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca. "Breakthrough Therapy Designation for acalabrutinib will help us bring this potential medicine to appropriate patients as quickly as possible."
In 2015, AstraZeneca acquired acalabrutinib with the purchase of Acerta Pharma.
Read the AstraZeneca release