AstraZeneca thyroid cancer drug accepted for review

AstraZeneca has announced that its new thyroid cancer drug vandetanib has been accepted for review by industry regulators in Europe and the US.

The European Medicines Agency and US Food and Drug Administration have accepted regulatory submissions for the new treatment, which functions by targeting a number of pathways involved in tumour growth.

These submissions were supported by data from a recent phase III clinical trial called Zeta, which showed the drug can help to deliver improvements in progression-free survival rates when compared to placebo.

In addition to accepting the applications, the US regulator also granted the treatment priority review status, which is allocated to drugs recognised as serving pressing healthcare needs.

AstraZeneca is now consulting with authorities over the selection of a proposed trade name for vandetanib.

Earlier this week, the company was granted a recommendation from the Scottish Medicines Consortium for its gastro-oesophageal reflux disease treatment Nexium to be used among paediatric NHS patients in Scotland.