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Jan 3 (Reuters) - Pfizer PFE.N said on Wednesday that Canada's health regulator approved its gene therapy for the treatment of a rare inherited bleeding disorder called hemophilia B.

Canada's approval comes ahead of a pending decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is expected in the second quarter of 2024.

U.S. regulators over a year ago approved CSL's CSL.AX Hemgenix, the first one-time gene therapy for hemophilia B.

Hemophilia is a rare genetic bleeding disorder that causes the blood to take a long time to clot due to a deficiency in one of several blood clotting factors and is predominately found in males.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

(( Christy.Santhosh@thomsonreuters.com ))

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Keywords: PFIZER-GENE THERAPY/ (UPDATE 1)