Roche's Alecensa notches trial win against Pfizer's Xalkori

Zurich : Roche's Alecensa kept people with a specific lung cancer alive longer without their disease progressing than Pfizer's Xalkori, the Swiss drugmaker said, as it seeks to move in on the U.S. company's share of early treatment of the disease.

Roche now plans to submit the results of the Phase III study to global health regulators, it said in its statement.

Alecensa, approved since 2015 in people with advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer who have failed on Xalkori, is now being trialed head-to-head against Pfizer's medication as an initial treatment.