Velcade approved for expanded use

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. said today that the US Food and Administration has granted approval for expanded use of its Velcade blood-cancer drug.

The Cambridge company said that Velcade can now be used, without dose adjustments, in patients with impaired kidney function, including those requiring dialysis.

Velcade, which is being codeveloped with New Jersey drug maker Johnson & Johnson, has been used to treat multiple myeloma, a hematologic malignancy and a disease that is predominantly a cancer of the elderly, Millennium said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)