BRIEF—Daiichi Sankyo snags Japanese approval for quizartinib

Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo has delivered on the first of seven new molecular entities that it has promised to produce from its oncology pipeline by 2025.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan has approved Vanflyta (quizartinib) for relapsed/refractory FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

It is the first market in which the oral FLT3 inhibitor has been approved.

Wataru Takasaki, head of Oncology and head of R&D division in Japan for Daiichi Sankyo, said: “With the approval of Vanflyta, patients with relapsed/refractory FLT3-ITD AML in Japan will now have access to this important new treatment option that specifically targets the underlying driver of disease, and has a proven survival benefit compared to chemotherapy.”