The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Sohonos (palovarotene) capsules for reduction in the volume of new heterotopic ossification (extra-skeletal bone formation) in adults and children aged 8 years and older for females, and 10 years and older for males with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. Sohonos, by Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, is the first drug approved for patients with that disease.
The condition is a rare, autosomal dominant disease where connective tissue such as muscle, tendons and ligaments gradually turn into bone tissue, causing limited movement, deformities and severe disability.