Lilly’s lung cancer drug sees FDA approval
pharmafile | December 17, 2014 | News story | Sales and Marketing | BMS, Cancer, FDA, NSCLC, cyramza, docetaxel, lilly, opdivo, ramucirumab
Eli Lilly’s lung cancer drug Cyramza (ramucirumab) has been shown the green light by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The treatment is the first approved by the FDA for use in combination with docetaxel in second-line metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
“We are pleased with this approval and excited for the therapeutic advantage that Cyramza in combination with docetaxel can bring to second-line, metastatic NSCLC patients,” says Sue Mahony, senior vice president and president, Lilly Oncology.
Cyramza is already approved as a single agent or in combination with paclitaxel as a treatment for people with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction, and the drug works by blocking the blood supply that fuels tumour growth.
Lung is the leading cause of cancer deaths globally with about 1.5 million each year, according to the World Health Organization, and NSCLC accounts for around 85% of all lung cancer cases.
Approximately half of patients with metastatic NSCLC who begin first-line therapy will move on to second-line treatment. Despite the therapies currently available, there continues to be a need for new treatment options for patients with the cancer.
Mahony concludes: “[The approval] truly builds on Lilly’s continued commitment to discovering potential treatment options for people fighting lung cancer. Lilly is determined to meet the challenge of delivering new treatments for people with difficult-to-treat cancers, such as NSCLC.”
The only available treatment: but for how long?
Another firm looking to jostle into this cancer market space is Bristol-Myers Squibb, who only a few months ago reported that its new drug Opdivo (nivolumab) received positive mid-stage data when it was given to patients with advanced NSCLC.
Already approved in Japan for melanoma, the drug was found to keep 41% of lung cancer patients alive after one year’s treatment. The firm is awaiting approval in the US with the FDA expected to make a decision early next year.
According to Sanford Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson, should the treatment see an FDA green light next year with approvals for both melanoma and NSCLC – sales could reach a healthy $4.6 billion come 2020.
Tom Robinson
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