STAT+: FDA to reconsider treatment for rare cancer after its surprise rejection

Two companies developing a therapy for a rare blood cancer have reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration that walked back the agency’s main reason for rejecting the drug in January.&#x A0; Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals and Atara Biotherapeutics, makers of the drug called Ebvallo, said Thursday that a meeting held in late April with FDA officials ended with the agency agreeing that their already completed, single-arm clinical trial was sufficient to support a review and potential approval.  When the FDA rejected Ebvallo, the agency said the same study was flawed and the data produced from it was “insufficient” to support the drug’s approval. The drug’s review was conducted by the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, led at the time by Vinay Prasad. He departed the agency at the end of April. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…