EMA panel recommends nod for Pfizers breast cancer drug, Ibrance

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc's breast cancer drug, Ibrance, should be given marketing approval, an advisory committee at the European Medicines Agency recommended.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) gave a positive opinion for Ibrance to be used in combination with two existing therapies in women who have received prior endocrine therapy.

The CHMP's opinion will now be reviewed by the EMA, Pfizer said in a statement.

Ibrance, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 2015, contributed about half a billion dollars of Pfizer's total revenue of $13.1 billion in its latest quarter.

Novartis is also testing an experimental breast cancer pill which belongs to same drug class as Pfizer's Ibrance. In May, tests on the drug were stopped early because of good results.

Pfizer's shares were off slightly in premarket trading on Friday.