Pfizer Wins U.S. Approval for ‘Personalized’ Lung-Cancer Drug
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Pfizer Inc. won U.S. approval to sell a drug targeted at a form of lung cancer caused by a gene defect, as the world’s largest drugmaker seeks tumor-fighting medicines to replace sales expected to be lost to generics.
The treatment, crizotinib, was cleared five weeks ahead of schedule for patients with late-stage, non-small cell lung cancer with a rare genetic abnormality, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday in a statement. Pfizer will sell the twice-a-day pill under the name Xalkori. The agency also approved a companion test made by a unit of Abbott Laboratories to determine whether a patient has the abnormal ALK gene.