The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug designed to reduce how often people with a rare blood cancer need blood removed from their bodies. On August 28 the agency cleared Mimrylo, known generically as rusfertide, for the treatment of erythrocytosis in adults with polycythemia vera.
Polycythemia vera causes bone marrow to produce too many red blood cells. The excess thickens the blood and raises the risk of clots, stroke, and heart attack. The condition affects roughly 90,000 people in the United States, and for decades the cornerstone of management has been therapeutic phlebotomy, the scheduled removal of blood to keep hematocrit below 45 percent.
