On Jun. 5, 1986, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Hoffmann La Roche’s Interferon  initially for treatment of hairy cell leukemia, and later for chronic myelogenous leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, malignant melanoma, and Kaposi’s sarcoma.

Interferon alpha (IFN-a), a cytokine that is responsible for regulating and activating the immune response, became the first anticancer drug produced through biotechnology for cancer treatment.