Clofarabine.

Author(s): Pui CH, Jeha S

Affiliation(s): Leukemia/Lymphoma Division, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105-2794, USA. ching-hon.pui@stjude.org

Publication date & source: 2005-05, Nat Rev Drug Discov., Suppl:S12-3.

Publication type: Review

Clofarabine (Clolar; Genzyme), a purine nucleoside antimetabolite, was granted accelerated approval by the US FDA for the treatment of paediatric patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in December 2004. It is the first new drug for paediatric leukaemia to be approved in more than a decade, and the only one to receive approval for paediatric use before adult use.