Novartis drug tops standard therapy in untreated lung cancer patients

Novartis AG said its cancer drug, Zykadia, was twice as effective as standard chemotherapy in slowing the progression of a rare form of lung cancer in a late-stage study.

Patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with Zykadia had a median progression-free survival of 16.6 months, compared to 8.1 months for those on standard chemotherapy.

Overall survival data is still immature, but a positive trend in favor of Zykadia was observed, the Swiss drug maker said on Tuesday.

Zykadia has already secured accelerated approval in the United States as an alternative or second-line treatment in patients who have progressed on or cannot tolerate Pfizer's Xalkori.

Zykadia also has conditional approval as a second-line treatment in Europe.