New MHRA approval for Lynparza in the UK

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has granted marketing authorization for Lynparza (olaparib) for use as combination therapy with abiraterone and prednisone or prednisolone, for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in whom chemotherapy is not clinically indicated.

This adds to a string of indications approved in the UK and around the world for AstraZeneca’s (LSE: AZN) Lynparza, which is partnered with the USA’s Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the USA and Canada, and generated global sales of some $2.64 billion in 2022 for the UK pharma major.

“This approval by the MHRA is an important next step for healthcare professionals and their patients in the UK with this specific type of prostate cancer. These data from the PROpel Phase III trial underline the therapeutic potential of new first-line treatment options for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, especially given that many have a much-shortened life-span when their disease becomes castrate resistant,” noted Noel Clarke, professor of urological oncology at the Christie and Salford Royal Hospitals.