A drug that could ‘melt away’ cancer cells has been approved for human
use
The drug, which was approved for
use in the US in August 2016, would be made available to patients.
A drug that could ‘melt away’ cancer cells has
been approved for human use in Australia, a media report said on Tuesday.
Developed in Melbourne, Venetoclax, which will be sold as Venclexta, has been
approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for use by patients with
advanced forms of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Xinhua news agency reported.
The drug, which was approved for use in the US in August 2016, would be made
available to patients who have not responded to standard treatments or who have
not been able to undergo other therapies. Venetoclax works by blocking the
action of the BCL-2 protein which enables cancer cells to survive, a solution
that researchers worldwide have been studying for more than 30 years.
Doug Hilton, the director at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of
Medical Research, said the approval was important for patients with limited
options. ‘Like a lethal arrow, Venetoclax flies straight to the heart of
BCL-2,’ Hilton told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). David Huang,
the developer of the drug from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical
Research, won the Eureka Prize for Innovation in Medical Research in
2016.
13.01.2017
The
ladder of success doesn’t care who climbs it
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