Tecentriq wins EU approval for treating advanced lung and bladder cancer

The European Commission has granted a marketing authorization for Tecentriq (atezolizumab) as a monotherapy for the treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after they have been previously treated with chemotherapy regardless of PD-L1 status.

Tecentriq, viewed as an important growth drive for Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) as is faces biosimilar competition for some of its top-selling cancer drugs, is already approved in the USA and in several other countries for people with metastatic NSCLC – and for people with locally advanced or mUC who are not eligible for cisplatin chemotherapy, or who have had disease progression during or following platinum-containing therapy. It generated first-half 2017 sales of 237 million Swiss francs ($245 million).

The EC has also granted marketing authorization for Tecentriq as a monotherapy for the treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who have been previously treated with a platinum-containing chemotherapy or who are considered ineligible for cisplatin chemotherapy, regardless of PD-L1 status.