FDA Approves Eli Lilly's Cyramza for Lung Cancer

By Angela Chen 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Eli Lilly Co.'s Cyramza to treat non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer.

This form of cancer occurs when cancer cells form in the tissues of the lung. Cyramza, also known as ramucirumab, blocks the blood supply that fuels tumor growth. It is intended for patients whose tumors continued to grow after platinum-based chemotherapy, and should be used in conjunction with docetaxel, another type of chemotherapy.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly obtained Cyramza through its 2008 acquisition of ImClone Systems. Though the drug failed to meet primary goals in a study investigating it as a secondary treatment for liver cancer, it has been approved by the FDA to treat patients with advanced stomach cancer.

"The commitment to study Cyramza in a variety of malignancies provides important treatment options to patients," said Richard Pazdur of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

The latest approval is based on a clinical study of over 1,200 patients with lung cancer. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either Cyramza with docetaxel or a placebo with docetaxel.

Half of those treated with Cyramza survived 10.5 months after beginning treatment, compared with an average of 9.1 months for half of the participants who received the placebo.

According to the National Cancer Institute, about 224,000 Americans will be diagnosed and 159,000 will die from lung cancer in 2014.

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