Iressa back from the dead?

By MaverickNY on April 27, 2009

This morning I was checking my inbox and found this useful little snippet from the European CHMP on Iressa:

"On 23rd April 2009 the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), adopted a positive opinion, recommending to grant a marketing authorisation for the medicinal product Iressa, 250mg, film coated tablets intended for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The Applicant for this medicinal product is AstraZeneca AB."

Furthermore, the announcement went on to say:

"The approved indication is: Iressa is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with activating mutations of EGFR-TK."

Irrespective of the ongoing questions being discussed in both NSCLC and CRC, it is clear that companies are going to need ways of helping oncologists best to select patients for their treatment, either clinically or with a biomarker.

Interesting times.