FDA Approves New Immunotherapy Combination for a Specific Type of Metastatic Lung Cancer
December 6th, 2018
On December 6, 2018, the FDA granted approval to Tecentriq® (atezolizumab), in combination with Avastin® (bevacizumab), paclitaxel and carboplatin (chemotherapy), for the initial treatment of people with metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.
News in brief
- This is Genentech’s first FDA-approved regimen combining its immunotherapy Tecentriq and its targeted treatment Avastin, along with chemotherapy.
- The approval is based on results from the Phase III IMpower150 study, which showed that Tecentriq in combination with Avastin and chemotherapy helped people live significantly longer compared to Avastin and chemotherapy in the intention-to-treat wild-type population.
- Approximately 234,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2018, and NSCLC accounts for 85 percent of all lung cancers. It is estimated that approximately 60 percent of lung cancer diagnoses in the U.S. are made when the disease is in the advanced stages.
Supporting Information
"This Tecentriq regimen has demonstrated a significant survival benefit in the initial treatment of metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. Today’s approval supports our combination approach for Tecentriq in lung cancer and our vision to develop medicines that improve outcomes for patients with this complex disease.”