Novartis today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for NIS793 in combination with standard of care chemotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. NIS793 is a potential first in class novel antibody specific for Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGFβ), which is known to have an important role in metastatic pancreatic ductal carcinoma (mPDAC) and other solid tumors.

• Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer, with typically late detection and poor outcomes with standard of care treatment …