Swiss drugmaker Roche hopes to earn Food and Drug Administration approval to treat non-small cell lung cancer patients with its bladder cancer treatment Tecentriq, reported Reuters.
The FDA approved Tecentriq for bladder cancer in May. Roche now has eight Phase III clinical trials underway to evaluate Tecentriq's effects on lung cancer patients, alone and when paired with other medications. One recent clinical trial showed lung cancer patients taking Tecentriq lived longer than those receiving chemotherapy.
The drugmaker has several patents due to expire in 2017, leaving some of its older medicines susceptible to biosimilar competition. Roche plans to seek approval for the additional indication of the drug as early as October to make up for any potential loss of sales that could arise from this competition.
Tecentriq sales could hit $2.8 billion by 2020, according to Reuters analysts.
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