EMA tells doctors to not prescribe Lartruvo for new patients

24 January 2019

While full results from the confirmatory study are awaited, the European Medicines Agency late yesterday recommended that no new patients should start treatment with Lartruvo (olaratumab), which was developed by US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and gained conditional approval from the regulator in November 2016.

Preliminary results from the ANNOUNCE study released by Lilly last week showed that Lartruvo in combination with doxorubicin is not more effective at prolonging the lives of patients with soft tissue cancer than doxorubicin alone. The trial was to be used to apply for permanent approval, but given that the results were disappointing, Lilly said it would suspend promotion of Lartruvo.

For patients currently being treated with Lartruvo, their doctor may consider continuing treatment with the medicine if they appear to benefit from it. It is estimated that around 1,000 patients are currently treated with Lartruvo in the European Union, the EMA noted.

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