NOVARTIS announced the approval of Deferasirox – the first and only once-daily oral iron chelator – by the US Food and Drug Administration. It has been approved for the treatment of chronic iron overload due to blood transfusions in adults and children age two and older.
Iron overload is a potentially life-threatening and unavoidable consequence of frequent blood transfusions used to treat certain types of rare chronic blood disorders, including thalassemia and sickle cell disease, as well as other rare anaemias and myelodysplastic syndromes.