The lowdown: Pazopanib, a small molecule that inhibits several receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), was approved for the treatment of advanced RCC on 19 October 2009. In common with the two small-molecule RTK inhibitors approved for the same indication around 4 years ago — sunitinib (Sutent; Pfizer) and sorafenib (Nexavar; Bayer/Onyx) — it targets receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor, which is thought to have an important pathogenic role in most patients with clear-cell RCC.
Ofatumumab, a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) that targets CD20 on the surface of B cells, was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of CLL on 26 October 2009. Although rituximab (Rituxan/MabThera; Genentech/Roche/Biogen Idec) is well established as the first CD20-targeting mAb, having been approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1997, ofatumumab is the first such agent to be approved for CLL. In May 2009, Genentech and Biogen Idec submitted two supplementary biologic licence applications for the use of rituximab in combination with standard chemotherapy in treatment-naive and pretreated patients with CLL. The FDA was expected to make a decision regarding approval of rituximab for these indications on 17 November 2009.
