LONDON (Reuters) -- The FDA granted accelerated approval for an oral drug to treat patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the agency announced Friday.
Tagrisso (osimertinib) from AstraZeneca is approved for patients whose tumors have a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation (T790M) and whose disease has gotten worse after treatment with other EGFR-blocking therapy, the FDA said.
"Our understanding of the molecular basis of lung cancer and reasons these cancers become resistant to prior treatments is rapidly evolving," said Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
"This approval provides a new treatment for patients who test positive for the EGFR resistance mutation, T790M, and is based on substantial evidence from clinical trials that shows Tagrisso had a significant effect on reducing tumor size in over half of patients who were treated."
The FDA also approved the first companion diagnostic test (Roche's cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2) to detect the type of EGFR resistance mutation that Tagrisso is known to target. The newly approved version (v2) of the test adds the T790M mutation to the clinically relevant mutations detected by the original cobas EGFR Mutation Test (v1).
"The approval of safe and effective companion diagnostic tests and drugs continue to be important developments in oncology," said Alberto Gutierrez, MD, director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "The availability of the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 meets a need for the detection of this important EGFR gene mutation, which can alter treatment effectiveness."