Pfizer Inc. Gains China Approval of Drug for Kinase-Specific Lung Cancer

by Richard Daverman, PhD

February 25, 2013 -- Pfizer has been granted China approval for Xalkori (crizotinib), an innovative treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive. The ALK-positive variation, which comprises between 3% and 5% of all NSCLC tumors, must be proved by a biomarker test. Pfizer said China's approval came just eleven months after it submitted a new drug application to the SFDA for Xalkori. More details....

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