Talon leukemia-fighting drug wins FDA panel recommendation

Talon Therapeutics Inc. won a tight recommendation from an FDA advisory panel Wednesday that the agency approve the San Mateo company’s drug for a group of leukemia patients.
The Food and Drug Administration’s oncologic drugs advisory committee voted 7-4, with two members abstaining, to say that the benefits of Talon’s Marqibo outweighed the risks for patients with adult Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients.
A recommendation by the advisory committee doesn’t guarantee that the FDA will approve the drug, especially after such a slim vote, but the vote does put Talon’s (OTCBB: TLON) drug only one step away from approval.