Shares for Amgen ticked up 50 cents after the company announced March 29 that its cancer drug Blincyto had received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat patients in their first or second remission.

The decision makes Blincyto the first therapy to be approved to treat patients with minimal residual disease, or MRD, the Thousand Oaks biotech giant said in a news release. Sales for the drug increased more than 52 percent in 2017 to $175 million.

“Until today, no therapy has been satisfactory in eradicating MRD or approved specifically to treat this high-risk patient population,” said David Reese, senior vice president of translational sciences and oncology at Amgen. “This approval not only supports the use of Blincyto earlier in the all treatment continuum, but represents a paradigm shift in the management of all.”

• Contact Marissa Nall at mnall@pacbiztimes.com.