On Nov. 26, 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it had approved the Monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan), the first biotechnology product approved for the indication of relapsed or refractory, CD20-positive, B-cell, low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (LG/F NHL).

The Monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan) was developed by IDEC Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA.