Polatuzumab vedotin was discovered by a team at
Genentech led by Dan Eaton, Fred de Sauvage, and Andy Polson, who had been trying to develop ADCs for
solid tumors without success, and in 2002 turned to
blood cancers. In June 2019, polatuzumab vedotin was approved in the United States in combination with the chemotherapy bendamustine and a rituximab product, to treat adults with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that has progressed or returned after at least two prior therapies. The
European Medicines Agency (EMA) designated polatuzumab vedotin an orphan medicine in April 2018. In February 2023, polatuzumab vedotin was recommended by the
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to be used in combination with rituximab,
cyclophosphamide,
doxorubicin and
prednisolone (R-CHP) for untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (
DLBCL). In April 2023, the FDA approved polatuzumab vedotin in combination with rituximab,
cyclophosphamide,
doxorubicin and
prednisone as first-line therapy for people with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified or high-grade B-cell lymphoma who have an
International Prognostic Index score of two or greater. == Society and culture ==