Boehringer Ingelheim reports positive data from Asian Giotrif assessment

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced data from a pre-specified subgroup analysis that demonstrates the benefits its lung cancer drug Giotrif can offer to Asian patients.

This new study of data from the phase III LUX-Lung 3 trial demonstrated that Asian non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with the most common type of EGFR mutation tended to live significantly longer after receiving first-line treatment with Giotrif, compared to chemotherapy.

It is the first treatment to demonstrate a significant overall survival benefit for NSCLC patients with a specific type of EGFR mutation, independent of Asian or Caucasian descent.

LUX-Lung 3 also met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in the overall study population.

Professor James Chih-Hsin Yang, director of National Taiwan University's cancer research centre, said: "Data from the LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6 trials, individually demonstrating an overall survival benefit of more than 12 months in the subgroup of NSCLC patients with the del19 mutation taking afatinib versus chemotherapy, is very encouraging."

The drug was approved in Europe last year and received a recommendation from the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence earlier this year.