Non-small cell lung cancer drug delivers good results in trial

Non-small cell lung cancer drug delivers good results in trial

27/3/2014

A majority of patients given a investigational drug against non-small cell lung cancer actually responded to the treatment, according to clinical trial details. Study results have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The drug, manufactured by Novartis, is codenamed "LDK378" and has been declared a "breakthrough therapy", a designation created by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012 to help speed drugs to market that treat serious or life-threatening conditions and are deemed likely to work better than existing treatments.

Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer, and sufferers tend to be non-smokers and younger than other lung cancer patients.

Patients survived for an average of seven months after taking LDK378, and 58 % of those treated with the drug responded, Novartis said. Novartis is currently conducting Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials of the treatment.

The company, which said in January that it had filed for regulatory approval of the drug, said the data formed the basis for its submission.

 

Source: Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/us-novartis-ldk-idUSBREA2Q0CN20140327