Novartis' Zykadia piles pressure on Pfizer's Xalkori, Roche's Alecensa with new lung can

Fierce Pharma ------- Pfizer’s targeted cancer med Xalkori will have to move over in non-small cell lung cancer. Novartis’ Zykadia now has FDA clearance to compete for previously untreated NSCLC patients who've tested positive for the ALK gene mutation, giving Xalkori its first competition in that patient pool. Regulators based the approval on phase 3 data showing Zykadia could more than double progression-free survival to 16.6 months compared with standard first-line pemetrexed-platinum chemo. Previously, the med had been green-lighted only in patients who had already failed on Xalkori. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.