Lynparza first and only PARPi OKed by NICE in all ovarian cancer settings

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and US partner Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) on Friday announced the recommendation of Lynparza  (olaparib) by UK health technology assessor the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for maintenance treatment of relapsed, platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer in adults with a BRCA-mutation and who have had two or more courses of platinum-based chemotherapy.

This now means that olaparib is the first and only PARP inhibitor (PARPi) in the UK to be approved in all lines of maintenance treatment, the companies noted.

This approval also introduces the transition of olaparib from the capsule formulation (8 capsules twice daily) to the tablet formulation (2 tablets twice daily), which is now available to all BRCA-mutated, relapsed ovarian cancer patients regardless of their line of therapy.

This positive result is based on data from the SOLO2 trial (which more than trebled the mPFS versus placebo) and comes just four months after the announcement that olaparib is funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund for the first-line maintenance treatment of women with this disease.