ZURICH (Reuters) - The European Commission has approved Roche’s Alecensa as treatment for a form of lung cancer common in patients without a significant smoking history, the Swiss drug maker said on Thursday.
The market authorisation for adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive, advanced non-small cell lung cancer follows a positive phase III study in which Alecensa was shown to reduce the risk of disease progression or death by more than half versus crizotinib, a chemotherapy developed by Pfizer.
The lung cancer in question commonly affects younger patients, with an average age of 52, with no or only a light smoking history.
Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi
