Ablynx gets FDA green light for Cablivi
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared Ablynx’s Cablivi (caplacizumab-yhdp) injection, the first therapy specifically indicated, in combination with plasma exchange and immunosuppressive therapy, for the treatment of adult patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or aTTP, a rare and life-threatening disorder that causes blood clotting.
Patients with aTTP develop extensive blood clots in the small blood vessels throughout the body. These clots can cut off oxygen and blood supply to the major organs and cause strokes and heart attacks that may lead to brain damage or death. Patients can develop aTTP because of conditions such as cancer, HIV, pregnancy, lupus or infections, or after having surgery, bone marrow transplantation or chemotherapy.
"Patients with aTTP endure hours of treatment with daily plasma exchange, which requires being attached to a machine that takes blood out of the body and mixes it with donated plasma and then returns it to the body. Even after days or weeks of this treatment, as well as taking drugs that suppress the immune system, many patients will have a recurrence of aTTP," said Richard Pazdur, FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence director, and acting director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Cablivi is the first targeted treatment that inhibits the formation of blood clots. It provides a new treatment option for patients that may reduce recurrences."
Patients with aTTP develop extensive blood clots in the small blood vessels throughout the body. These clots can cut off oxygen and blood supply to the major organs and cause strokes and heart attacks that may lead to brain damage or death. Patients can develop aTTP because of conditions such as cancer, HIV, pregnancy, lupus or infections, or after having surgery, bone marrow transplantation or chemotherapy.
"Patients with aTTP endure hours of treatment with daily plasma exchange, which requires being attached to a machine that takes blood out of the body and mixes it with donated plasma and then returns it to the body. Even after days or weeks of this treatment, as well as taking drugs that suppress the immune system, many patients will have a recurrence of aTTP," said Richard Pazdur, FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence director, and acting director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Cablivi is the first targeted treatment that inhibits the formation of blood clots. It provides a new treatment option for patients that may reduce recurrences."