Acalabrutinib maleate monohydrateProduct ingredient for Acalabrutinib

To date, acalabrutinib has been used in trials studying the treatment of B-All, myelofibrosis, ovarian cancer, multiple myeloma, and Hodgkin lymphoma, among others.

As of October 31, 2017 the FDA approved Astra Zeneca's orally administered Calquence (acalabrutinib, capsules). This Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor indicated for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, small lymphocytic lymphoma, and in adult patients with Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) who have already received at least one prior therapy.⁶ In August 2022, the FDA approved a new tablet formulation of Calquence, enabling the co-administration of this drug with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).^7,8 Unlike Calquence capsules, the co-administration of Calquence tablets and PPIs does not have an effect in the pharmacokinetics of acalabrutinib.^6,7

Also known as ACP-196, acalabrutinib is also considered a second generation BTK inhibitor because it was rationally designed to be more potent and selective than ibrutinib, theoretically expected to demonstrate fewer adverse effects owing to minimized bystander effects on targets other than BTK.

Nevertheless, acalabrutinib was approved under the FDA's accelerated approval pathway, which is based upon overall response rate and faciliates earlier approval of medicines that treat serious conditions or/and that fill an unmet medical need based on a surrogate endpoint. Continued approval for acalabrutinib's currently accepted indication may subsequently be contingent upon ongoing verification and description of clinical benefit in confimatory trials.

Furthermore, the FDA granted this medication Priority Review and Breakthrough Therapy designations. It also received Orphan Drug designation, which provides incentives to assist and encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases. At this time, more than 35 clinical trials across 40 countries with more than 2500 patients are underway or have been completed with regards to further research into better understanding and expanding the therapeutic uses of acalabrutinib ⁵.