Lilly's Cyramza first FDA-approved drug for advanced gastric cancer after prior chemo

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved pharma major Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) Cyramza (ramucirumab) as a single-agent treatment for patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma with disease progression on or after prior fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy.

With this approval, Cyramza becomes the first FDA-approved treatment for patients in this setting, noted Lilly.

“Although the rates of stomach cancer in the United States have decreased over the past 40 years, patients require new treatment options, particularly when they no longer respond to other therapies,” said Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Cyramza is new treatment option that has demonstrated an ability to extend patients’ lives and slow tumor growth,” he noted.