Novartis says Kymriah receives second FDA approval

(Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis said on Tuesday it received a second approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a second form of the blood cancer drug Kymriah.

The company said it received FDA approval to treat adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma.

“Today’s FDA approval of Kymriah provides another opportunity for Novartis to build on its leadership in CAR-T development,” said Liz Barrett, chief executive of Novartis Oncology.

Kymriah, a chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, in August won FDA approval for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in patients up to 25 years old.