Roche plans regulatory filings for promising lung cancer candidate

Last year’s $1.7 billion takeover of US oncology firm Ignyta is beginning to look like it will pay off for Roche (ROG: SIX), after the Swiss giant announced plans to file for regulatory approval for key pipeline acquisition entrectinib.

In buying Ignyta, Roche took over a pivotal Phase II development program for the orally bioavailable, CNS-active tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Now the firm has released a positive integrated analysis of data from those clinical trials, showing that entrectinib shrank tumors in 77.4% of people with certain non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). NSCLC is the most common type of lung cancer, accounting for 85% of all diagnoses.