The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its orphan drug asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi (Erwinaze™ www.erwinaze.com , EUSA Pharma) for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in patients who have developed an allergy (hypersensitivity) to E. coli derived asparaginase and pegaspargase chemotherapy drugs used to treat ALL. The new drug will…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug status for the investigational compound regorafenib (BAY 73-4506). The new compound will be used for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and is under developed by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.



GIST is the most common form of sarcoma involving the gastrointestinal tract. GISTs arise in the GI tract,…

Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK), a member of a family of nonreceptor protein-tyrosine kinases, is substantially over-expressed in many cancers, including breast, thyroid, prostate, colon, cervical, ovarian, liver and pancreatic cancer [1, 2]. FAK operates by placing itself at the contact points between tumor cells and the extra cellular matrix that surrounds them.



Researchers have found that FAK is an important facilitator for signals that cause tumor cells to…