This week, the FDA Oncology Drug Advisory Committee provided a unanimous recommendation to Novartis’ tisagenlecleucel, a CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy directed against CD19 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory (r/r) pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).  In addition, the FDA granted full approval to Amgen for Blincyto (blinatumomab), a bispecific monoclonal antibody that targets CD19, for indicated for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults and children. Blincyto received conditional approval in 2015 for this claim. Continue reading →