07:36 AM EDT, 09/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Agios Pharmaceuticals ( AGIO ) said Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to tebapivat, the company's drug candidate for myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of blood disorders.

The designation is intended to support companies developing medicines for rare disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the US.

The company said it is currently initiating a phase 2b study of the drug candidate in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes.