Currently, AG-221 is being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies.
Agios chief medical officer Chris Bowden said the company believes this designation is an important recognition by the FDA of the nonclinical and clinical data reported to date and the potential for AG-221 to address a significant unmet need for patients diagnosed with AML.
"We remain on track to initiate the planned expansion cohorts for patients with IDH2 mutant positive AML and other IDH2 mutant positive hematologic malignancies in the second half of this year," Bowden said.
"We are committed to working with our partner Celgene Corporation to get this medicine to patients as soon as possible."
AML, a cancer of blood and bone marrow characterized by rapid disease progression, is the most common acute leukemia affecting adults.