Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare granted Chugai Pharmaceuticals’ polatuzumab vedotin an orphan drug designation for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Polatuzumab vedotin is an anti-CD79b antibody-drug conjugate, that binds to the antibody and destroys the B-cells through the delivery of an anti-cancer agent, which is thought to suppress the effects on normal cells.

The designation was granted based on the results of two clinical trials studying patients with DLBCL and relapsed or refractory DLBCL.