US FDA approves Jazz Pharma’s drug for rare brain tumor

(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday that it has approved Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ drug to treat diffuse midline glioma, a rare and aggressive tumor, in adults and children aged one year and older.

This marks the first FDA approval of a systemic therapy for diffuse midline glioma with a specific mutation that has progressed after previous treatments, the agency said.

Diffuse midline glioma (DMG) is a rare and aggressive brain tumor that primarily affects children and young adults. It develops in the brain’s and spinal cord’s midline structures, such as the brainstem, thalamus, and spinal cord.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals acquired the drug in March through its $935 million purchase of Chimerix.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)