Novartis reports positive data from Zykadia lung cancer study

Novartis has announced new findings from a clinical trial showing the efficacy of Zykadia in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Results from the study showed that patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK-positive) NSCLC lived an average of more than 18 months without their cancer progressing when taking Zykadia as their first ALK inhibitor.

The drug was also revealed to demonstrate efficacy in ALK-positive NSCLC patients regardless of whether or not they received previous treatment with an ALK inhibitor, even among patients with brain metastases.

Zykadia has already been made available in the US, with additional regulatory reviews currently underway in the EU and other countries worldwide.

Dr Alessandro Riva, global head of Novartis oncology development and medical affairs, said: "These findings in patients being treated with an ALK inhibitor for the first time reinforce the impressive ceritinib data that were already seen in patients who had stopped responding to an ALK inhibitor."

This comes after the firm also recently announced clinical trial data from a phase III study of Afinitor, showing its efficacy in the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours.