Gilead's Yescarta approved in Japan for initial treatment of B-cell lymphomas
Justin Sullivan


Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ:GILD) Kite Pharma and Japanese pharmaceutical giant Daiichi Sankyo (OTCPK:DSKYF) (OTCPK:DSNKY) on Thursday said that cancer drug Yescarta had received approval from the country's health ministry for initial treatment of various types of B-cell lymphoma.

The approval was given by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
"As Japan has the second-largest number of people diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma globally, this approval marks an important step in bringing this innovative therapy earlier to more patients," Kite CEO Christi Shaw said in a statement.
Yescarta is now approved in Japan for the initial treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, transformed follicular lymphoma, and high-grade B-cell lymphoma, GILD said.
This indication for Yescarta was first approved by the U.S. FDA in April this year followed by the European Commission in Oct.
GILD stock earlier closed flat at $85.28.