FDA approved Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd), an allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cell therapy, for steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease in pediatric patients two months of age and older. Ryoncil is the first FDA-approved MSC therapy.
In 1999, Richard Pazdur, a GI oncologist at MD Anderson, saw an FDA recruitment ad in The New England Journal of Medicine. The agency was looking for a director of the FDA Division of Oncology Drug Products.
