Pfizer will pull ineffective leukemia drug

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FDA: Pfizer will pull ineffective leukemia drug

WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators said Monday that the drugmaker

Pfizer has agreed to pull a leukemia drug off the market after a

follow-up study showed it failed to slow the disease.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the drug Mylotarg in 2000

under its accelerated approval program, which grants speedy access to

drugs that show early promise. The drug was cleared for patients older than 60

with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia, a bone marrow

cancer.

But the FDA said a follow-up study was halted last August after

researchers reported more deaths among patients taking Mylotarg plus

chemotherapy, compared with

chemotherapy alone.

Halff