FRIDAY, Oct. 6, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- Zolinza has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), a rare form of skin cancer, the agency said Friday.
The drug was sanctioned for use if the disease persists, gets worse, or recurs after treatment with other medications. It's made by Pantheon, Inc. for the global drugmaker Merck & Co.
Zolinza was approved under the FDA's Orphan Drug Program, which offers companies incentives to create drugs to treat diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 Americans annually. CTCL affects about three in every 1 million Americans each year, the agency said in a statement.
The drug hasn't been studied in pregnant women, but animal tests indicate it could cause fetal harm, the agency said.
More information
To learn more about CTCL, visit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
