European approval for Pfizer's kidney cancer drug Inlyta

The European Commission yesterday granted marketing authorization for Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) Inlyta (axitinib) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a type of kidney cancer, after failure of prior treatment with sunitinib (the company’s Sutent) or a cytokine.

Inlyta, a kinase inhibitor, is an oral therapy that was designed to selectively inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors 1, 2 and 3, which are proteins that can influence tumor growth, vascular angiogenesis and progression of cancer (tumor spread).

Inlyta, for which global annual sales are projected at some $555 million by 2016, was approved early this year by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma after failure of one prior systemic therapy (The Pharma Letter January 30). The drug has also been approved in a number of other countries, including Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Australia and Korea.