Lazertinib (Lazcluze – Janssen Biotech), an oral kinase inhibitor, has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with the EGFR-MET bispecific antibody amivantamab (Rybrevant) for first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations. This is the first approval for Lazcluze; amivantamab was previously approved for use alone and in combination with carboplatin and pemetrexed for treatment of NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion...

Revumenib (Revuforj – Syndax), an oral menin inhibitor, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of relapsed or refractory acute leukemia in patients ≥1 year old with a lysine methyltransferase 2A gene (KMT2A) translocation. It is the first menin inhibitor to be approved in the US.

The FDA has approved ensartinib (Ensacove – Xcovery), an oral kinase inhibitor, for treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults who have not previously received an ALK inhibitor (e.g, crizotinib [Xalkori], certinib [Zykadia], alectinib [Alecensa], brigatinib [Alunbrig], lorlatinib [Lorbrena]). All previously approved ALK inhibitors are also approved for first-line use.

Mirdametinib (Gomekli – SpringWorks Therapeutics), an oral kinase inhibitor, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) in patients ≥2 years old who have symptomatic plexiform neurofibromas not amenable to complete resection. Mirdametinib is the second drug to be approved for this indication in the US and the first to be approved for use in adults. The oral kinase inhibitor selumetinib (Koselugo) was approved in 2020 for use in patients 2-17 years old.

Exenatide injection (Byetta - Amylin/Lilly), a synthetic peptide that stimulates release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells, has been approved by the FDA as adjunctive therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes who have not achieved optimal glycemic control on metformin (Glucophage, and others), a sulfonylurea, such as glyburide (DiaBeta, and others), or both. Exenatide is not indicated for use with insulin.

Belimumab (Benlysta – Human Genome Sciences/GlaxoSmithKline) has been approved by the FDA for treatment of adults with active, autoantibody-positive, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It is the first biologic agent approved for SLE and the first drug of any kind to be approved for this disease in >50 years.

The FDA has approved afatinib (Gilotrif — Boehringer Ingelheim), an oral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutations. These mutations occur in about 10% of patients with NSCLC. Afatinib is the second EGFR inhibitor to be approved for first-line treatment of advanced lung cancer. The first was erlotinib (Tarceva), which is also approved for treatment of patients with locally advanced...

The FDA has approved the oral multikinase inhibitor lenvatinib (Lenvima – Eisai) for treatment of locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, differentiated thyroid cancer (papillary or follicular) refractory to radioactive iodine treatment.

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to copanlisib (Aliqopa – Bayer), an intravenously administered phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, for treatment of adults with relapsed follicular lymphoma who have received at least two prior systemic therapies. Follicular lymphoma is a common subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Copanlisib is the second PI3K inhibitor to be approved for this indication; idelalisib (Zydelig), which is administered orally twice daily, was the first.

The oral kinase inhibitor pemigatinib (Pemazyre – Incyte) has received accelerated approval from the FDA for treatment of adults with previously treated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) fusions or other rearrangements. Pemigatinib is the first drug to be approved in the US for this indication.