Janssen-Cilag receives EC approval fro updates Velcade label

Janssen-Cilag has been given clearance by the European Commission (EC) to update the labelling of its multiple myeloma drug Velcade (bortezomib).

The company has amended the drug’s summary of product characteristics to include new data about the survival benefit it can offer to previously untreated sufferers of the disease.

It follows a recommendation from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency, which was issued on the back of positive data from a phase III clinical trial.

The firm was also given the backing of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence earlier this month.

Janssen-Cilag states that the increasingly common use of novel treatments such as bortezomib has helped to improve the outlook for many multiple myeloma patients.

The condition, the second most common haematologic malignancy, is a cancer of the blood associated with poor prognoses and survival rates, with the condition currently incurable using conventional therapies.