The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug for the prevention of acute graft versus host disease (GvHD), a condition that occurs when donor bone marrow or stem cells attack healthy tissues in a patient undergoing a treatment for certain cancers, or an organ transplant. The drug, Orencia (abatacept), is already on the market having been approved for rheumatoid arthritis in 2005. The manufacturer is Bristol Myers Squibb Co.
