The federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug ziftomenib for patients with recurring or treatment-resistant acute myeloid leukemia who have a mutation in the NPM1 .. gene. The new medication, taken by mouth once daily, offers a potential treatment for patients who otherwise have no good options.
The drug arose from many years of research by Jolanta Grembecka, Ph.D., and Tomasz Cierpicki, Ph.D., who began the work in 2007 as research assistant professors in UVA's Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, working closely with John Bushweller, Ph.D., their former postdoctoral mentor. In 2009, both Grembecka and Cierpicki moved to the University of Michigan, where they are professors in the Department of Pathology.
"Ziftomenib is a long-awaited and desperately needed new option for patients for whom other treatments have failed—for patients left with no hope. It's a wonderful achievement by Drs. Grembecka and Cierpicki," said Mark Esser, Ph.D., the head and chief scientific officer of UVA's Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology.
"UVA has founded the Manning Institute specifically to advance exactly this type of important research. We are accelerating the development of new treatment and cures for the most complex and difficult diseases to benefit patients everywhere."
About acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia is a particularly deadly blood cancer primarily seen in people over the age of 68. More than 22,000 Americans develop the condition each year, and more than 11,000 die, according to the American Cancer Society. Overall, the disease accounts for about 1 in 3 cases of blood cancer.
