FDA Investigating Leukemia Drug Iclusig After Increased Reports of Blood Clots

The Food and Drug Administration Oct. 11 said it is investigating an increasing frequency of reports of serious and life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels of patients taking the leukemia chemotherapy drug Iclusig (ponatinib).

Iclusig, which is marketed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., is a prescription medicine used to treat adults diagnosed with chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), who no longer are benefiting from previous treatment or who didn’t tolerate other treatment. At the time of Iclusig’s approval in December 2012 10 PLIR 1601, 12/21/12