Genentech recently released positive results for its Phase III ALEX study analyzing Alecensa, a drug that treats anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK-positive) advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
When compared to crizotinib, Alecensa was shown to greatly reduce the risk of disease worsening or death by 53 percent when given as a first-line treatment for patients with NSCLC.
“Alecensa reduced the risk of disease progression by more than half and reduced the risk of cancer spreading to or growing in the brain, which can have devastating effects for patients,” Genentech's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sandra Horning said in a statement. “These results significantly improve upon the standard of care for this disease, extending the average time that people lived without their disease worsening from less than a year to more than two years. We are submitting these data to regulatory authorities around the world.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in December 2015 that it would grant accelerated approval to Alecensa as a treatment for those with ALK-positive NSCLC.
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