Dr. Kuykendall on the Approval of Fedratinib in Myelofibrosis

Andrew T. Kuykendall, MD, assistant member, Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses the addition of fedratinib (Inrebic) to the treatment paradigm in myelofibrosis.

Fedratinib is a relatively old drug that went through extensive clinical trials and was tested in many patients several years ago. After going through phase III clinical trials in ruxolitinib (Jakafi) patients with myelofibrosis, fedratinib was put on hold.

Despite its setbacks, fedratinib experienced a resurgence where the safety signals were reexamined, and researchers took a closer look at its efficacy. Now, fedratinib is approved to treat patients with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary (post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis, giving patients the option of a second JAK inhibitor.