Pharmaceutical Business review

FDA approves Genentech BCC drug

Erivedge capsule, taken orally once-a-day, is the first FDA-approved medicine for people with advanced forms of the most common skin cancer.

The approval is based on results from ERIVANCE BCC (SHH4476g), a pivotal international, single-arm, multicenter, two-cohort, Phase II study.

The open-label study enrolled 104 patients with advanced BCC, including locally advanced BCC (71) and metastatic BCC (33).

The study showed Erivedge shrank lesions in 43% of patients with locally advanced BCC and 30% of patients with metastatic BCC, the primary endpoint of the study.

Genentech chief medical officer Hal Barron said the approval provides a new treatment for people with advanced basal cell carcinoma.