Drug meets the main goal of a late-stage clinical study in liver cancer.
Eli Lilly’s cancer drug Cyramza (ramucirumab), which is already approved in the US for the treatment of stomach cancer and a type of lung cancer, performed well in a recent late-phase clinical trial for hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer.
Cyramza previously (in 2014) did not meet the primary survival goal of a late-stage trial. Shrinkage of tumors and a delay in the worsening of the disease were observed, however. In the latest trial, Cyramza was tested as a single treatment in a select population of patients who were intolerant to, or worsened despite, treatment with Bayer AG’s targeted cancer drug Nexavar. Lilly reported that it intends to file for marketing approval for Cyramza in mid-2018.
The company may also explore combination treatments with Cyramza and immuno-oncology therapies. Cyramza had sales of $204.8 million in 2017, and according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei, could reach $960 million by 2021.
