Venetoclax: Wonder drug that `melts` away cancer approved for human use in Australia

Sydney: A drug that could melt away cancer cells in some patients with advanced forms of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia has been approved for human use in Australia.

Developed in Melbourne, Venetoclax, has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and will be sold as Venclexta, Xinhua news agency reported.

The drug, which was approved for use in the US in August 2016, works by blocking the action of the BCL-2 protein which enables cancer cells to survive, a solution that researchers worldwide have been studying for more than 30 years.

Venetoclax would be made available to patients who have not responded to standard treatments or who have not been able to undergo other therapies.

Doug Hilton, the director at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, said the approval was important for patients with limited options.

"Like a lethal arrow, Venetoclax flies straight to the heart of BCL-2," Hilton told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

David Huang, the developer of the drug from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, won the Eureka Prize for Innovation in Medical Research in 2016.

Professor Huang said the drug could be taken as a tablet once a day.

The approval was a major milestone for researchers around the world who have been looking into a way to stop the protein for more than 30 years.

(With IANS inputs)