A Quick Approval

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Roche Genentech's Zelboraf, a drug to treat advanced melanoma, reports NPR's Shots blog. The blog notes that the drug does not cure melanoma, but it slows down its spread and should extend patients' lives. Our sister publication Pharmacogenomics Reporter adds that a genetic test to determine which patients should receive Zelboraf was approved by FDA at the same time. The drug label for Zelboraf says that it is indicated for people who have "unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAFV600E mutation." NPR adds that "the drug got the green light faster than many other drugs under review, and advocates of personalized medicine say this bodes well for other gene-based drugs in development."