Lilly Receives Fourth FDA Approval For Alimta

Eli Lilly has received a fourth approval from FDA for Alimta (pemetrexed for injection). The latest approval is for Alimta as a maintenance therapy for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Its specifically for patients with a nonsquamous histology, whose disease has not progressed after four cycles of platinum-based first-line chemotherapy. Alimta is not indicated for treatment of patients with squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer.

Richard Gaynor, Vice President of cancer research and Leader of global oncology platform at Lilly, said: This FDA approval is encouraging news for non-small cell lung cancer patients, their caregivers and doctors. It represents an important paradigm shift for NSCLC treatment – maintenance therapy as a way of extending survival in nonsquamous patients, using histology as a way of determining which NSCLC patients may benefit and which may not.”

Previously, patients received best supportive care following their chemotherapy. Now physicians and patients have a new option to improve survival, he added.