EMA panel recommends approving Bayer's cancer drug Vitrakvi

[July 26, 2019]  (Reuters) - A panel under Europe's drug regulator has recommended approving Bayer's cancer treatment Vitrakvi for adults and children, in a boost to the German company whose pipeline has suffered a series of setbacks.

The treatment is being recommended for patients with cancer driven by a rare genetic mutation and where the disease has spread or cannot be surgically removed, and who have no other satisfactory treatment options, the European Medicines Agency's human medicines committee (CHMP) said http://bit.ly/2Mi6s5o on Friday.

Bayer earlier this year took full control of Vitrakvi in a deal with Eli Lilly's Loxo Oncology, and the European thumbs-up follows U.S. regulatory approval in November.

Bayer's stock has slumped amid lawsuits over its Roundup weed killer, which it acquired after it bought U.S. seed company Monsanto.
 

While final approvals are up to the European Commission, it generally follows the CHMP's recommendation and endorses them within a couple of months.

Bayer clinched the initial deal for Vitrakvi, also known as larotrectinib, in November 2017.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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