Roche receives EU approval for combination melanoma therapy

Roche has announced that its new combination therapy option for advanced melanoma has been approved by the European Commission.

The company's drug Cotellic has been approved for use in combination with Zelboraf for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation.

Clinical trial data has shown that Cotellic plus Zelboraf helped people with previously untreated BRAF V600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma live for more than a year without their disease worsening.

This new combination has now been approved in the US, EU and Switzerland, with further approvals anticipated in 2016.

Dr Sandra Horning, chief medical officer and head of global product development at Roche, said: "Together, Cotellic plus Zelboraf more strongly suppressed cancer growth than Zelboraf alone. This underscores the critical role of combination medicines in helping melanoma patients live longer without their disease worsening."

Cotellic is also being investigated in combination with several investigational medicines in several tumour types, including non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer.