Pfizer Inc gets regulatory nod to treat leukemia

World’s largest drugmaker Pfizer Inc has secured regulatory approval to treat one of the four most common types of leukemia, the news reports said.

The Food and Drug Administration also approved the drug known as Bosulif for adults with the previously treated chronic myeloid leukemia who also have an abnormality known as Philadelphia chromosome, the New-York-based company said.

According to the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, there are expected to be about 5,400 new cases and 601 deaths from blood cancer this year.

The drug Bosulif will compete with Novartis AG’s Tasigna and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s Sprycel.

According to the average estimate of six analysts, Pfizer’s treatment is expected to generate $71 million in sales in 2015.

Jorge Cortes, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and a lead investigator of the Pfizer-sponsored study on the drug said, “Bosulif is an important new addition to the CML treatment landscape.”

This is Pfizer’s third oncology drug approved in the past 13 months, preceded by Xalkori for lung cancer and Inlyta for the advanced kidney cancer.

Chronic myeloid leukemia produces an excess of white blood cells and is one of the four main types of leukemia that accounts for 15% of all leukemia worldwide.

Pfizer is an American multinational pharmaceutical company based in New York and has its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut in U.S. It is also the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenues.