AstraZeneca announced Wednesday that the European Commission approved its oral drug Iressa (gefitinib) for the treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer with activating mutations of EGFR-TK, across all lines of therapy.

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The company’s executive vice-president for development, Anders Ekblom, remarked that the approval will give patients with EGFR mutation positive tumours “a more effective and better tolerated alternative to chemotherapy as a first-line treatment.” AstraZeneca also noted that it will conduct a follow-up study to generate more data on the drug’s effectiveness in a Caucasian population, and added that it was in discussions with the EMEA to finalise the study design. Iressa is currently sold in the Asia-Pacific region for patients with NSCLC who have received prior therapy.

Source: FirstWord

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