Robert Hadley | Apr 18, 2017

FDA approves Pfizer's Ibrance for use in breast cancer treatment

Pfizer said in a release that it has enhanced its stable of oncology therapies with the March 31 announcement that the FDA has expanded the drugmaker's Ibrance medication for treatment of metastatic breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

In 2015, Ibrance was approved in the U.S. and dozens of in other countries to treat advanced cases of breast cancer along with letrozole, the announcement said. Ibrance has become the go-to medicine for breast cancer.

Now, with the latest FDA action, the drug is also approved for use with fulvestrant, which is prescribed to patients who have undergone endocrine therapy, Pfizer said in a release.

“This important update to the Ibrance label underscores the strength of the data we continue to generate for Ibrance,” Liz Barrett, Pfizer's global president and general manager of the oncology division, said in the release. “We are proud of the impact this innovative medicine continues to have on patients lives.”

As shown in the Paloma-2 clinical trial, that impact includes keeping tumors from growing for more than two years, the release said. 

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+ Pfizer