Novartis Pdt Effective Vs Bone Metastases,Prostate Cancer
Dow Jones Newswires
EAST HANOVER, N.J. -- Novartis AG's (NVS) Novartis Oncology unit said its investigational drug Zometa proved effective in the treatment of bone metatases and prostate cancer, when compared with a placebo.
Novartis said a series of Phase III studies demonstrated that Zometa is safe and effective in multiple myeloma and breast, renal, and lung cancer.
In a press release Thursday, the drug company said data from a clinical trial of more than 600 prostate cancer patients with a history of metastatic bone disease demonstrated a significant delay in the time to onset of skeletal-related events.
The drug also significantly extended the time until first skeletal related events in lung cancer and other solid tumor cancer patients who have osteolytic bone lesions and who typically have a median survival rate of nine months.
The company said the drug proved as effective as pamidronate disodium, which it markets under the name Aredia, in treating bone metastases/lesions in patients with breast cancer and multiple myeloma.
Zometa, which Novartis is developing as a follow-up drug to Aredia, has a 15-minute infusion time, which is a significant advantage over the two-hour to four-hour infusion time for Aredia.
Company Web site; novartis.com
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