Astra Files NDA for Iressa as First-Line in NSCLC

US regulators have accepted AstraZeneca’s New Drug Application for Iressa (gefitinib) as a targeted monotherapy for the first-line treatment of certain lung cancer patients.

The drug giant is seeking approval to market Iressa for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who test positive for an epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFRm).

AZ is working with Qiagen in the US to develop a companion diagnostic test to guide the use of Iressa in this setting; In Europe, their collaboration resulted in the drug becoming the first EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor to have a European label allowing the use of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) obtained from a blood sample, to be used for the assessment of EGFR mutation status in those patients where a tumour sample is not an option.

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