US FDA backs new indications for Votrient and Afinitor

29 April 2012

The US Food and Drug Administration last week gave its approval for new indications for currently marketed drugs – Votrient (pazopanib from the UK-based GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Afinitor (everolimus), from Switzerland’s Novartis (NOVN: VX).

Specifically, the FDA cleared Votrient to treat patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma who have previously received chemotherapy. Soft tissue sarcoma is a cancer that begins in the muscle, fat, fibrous tissue, and other tissues.

Analysts forecast modest sales for the GSK product, with global sales expectations peaking around $500 million in 2016, according to forecasts from Thomson Reuters Pharma. Votrient generated global sales of about £100 million ($161 million) last year and achieved an 18% total prescription share in the US advanced renal cell carcinoma market by end 2011.

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