Cell Therapeutics’ Drug Gets Fast Track

Cell Therapeutics said Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted fast track status to pixantrone, a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment.

The fast track designation applies to pixantrone for relapsed or refractory indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or NHL. The compound has previously received fast track status for aggressive NHL.

This designation for indolent NHL is an important step in the development of this product and may help us bring this potentially life-saving drug to patients more quickly, said James Bianco, Cell Therapeutics’ president and CEO.

Cell Therapeutics said in a phase 3 trial pixantrone plus rituximab improved time to tumor progression in relapsed or refractory indolent NHL patients compared to rituximab alone.