The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Zykadia (ceritinib) for patients with a certain type of late-stage (metastatic) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
 
Zykadia is an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks proteins that promote the development of cancerous cells. It is intended for patients with metastatic ALK-positive NSCLC who were previously treated with crizotinib, the only other approved ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
 
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women. According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 224,210 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 159,260 will die from the disease this year. About 85 percent of lung cancers are NSCLC, making it the most common type of lung cancer. However, only 2-7 percent of patients with NSCLC are ALK-positive.
 
“Today’s approval illustrates how a greater understanding of the underlying molecular pathways of a disease can lead to the development of specific therapies aimed at these pathways,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “It also demonstrates the FDA’s commitment to working cooperatively with companies to expedite a drug’s development, review and approval, reflecting the promise of the breakthrough therapy designation program.”
 
Zykadia is the fourth drug with breakthrough therapy designation to receive FDA approval. It is being approved four months ahead of the product’s prescription drug user fee goal date of Aug. 24, 2014, the date the agency was scheduled to complete review of the drug application.
 
The FDA granted Zykadia breakthrough therapy designation, priority review and orphan product designation because the sponsor demonstrated through preliminary clinical evidence that the drug may offer a substantial improvement over available therapies; the drug had the potential, at the time of the application was submitted, to be a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness in the treatment of a serious condition; and the drug is intended to treat a rare disease, respectively.
 
The FDA is approving Zykadia under the agency’s accelerated approval program, which allows approval of a drug to treat a serious or life-threatening disease based on clinical data showing the drug has an effect on a surrogate endpoint reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit to patients. This program provides earlier patient access to promising new drugs while the company conducts confirmatory clinical trials.
 
Zykadia’s safety and effectiveness were established in a clinical trial of 163 participants with metastatic ALK-positive NSCLC. All participants were treated with Zykadia. Results showed that about half of the participants had their tumors shrink, and this effect lasted an average of about seven months.
 
Common side effects of Zykadia include gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Laboratory abnormalities such as increased liver enzymes, pancreatic enzymes and increased glucose levels were also observed.
 
Zykadia is marketed by Novartis, based in East Hanover, N.J.