U.S. FDA approves Novartis therapy for prostate cancer

[March 24, 2022]  (Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Novartis AG's therapy for the treatment of patients with a type of advanced prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

Novartis' Pluvicto is a targeted radioligand therapy for adult patients who have already undergone other anticancer treatments.

The company bought the therapy as part of its $2.1 billion purchase of cancer drugmaker Endocyte in 2018.

Pluvicto is a precision treatment combining a targeting compound, or ligand, with a cancer-killing radioactive particle, Novartis said.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis' logo is seen at the company's plant in the northern Swiss town of Stein, Switzerland October 23, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

The company said it has submitted marketing authorization for Pluvicto to the European Medicines Agency and other health authorities.

Two late-stage studies evaluating Pluvicto in earlier lines of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer are underway, according to Novartis.

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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