FDA met the unusual circumstances of AstraZeneca PLC’s Iressa (gefitinib) in a genetically defined non-small cell lung cancer population – a new frontline NDA for a withdrawn third-line product – with an unconventional approach to the evidence, agency review documents show. Faced with a circumstance where the gold standard of two well-designed randomized trials would not be forthcoming, FDA looked for consistency of signals across an accretion of data.
Reviewers recognized problems with the trials underlying Iressa’s approval for first-line treatment of metastatic NSCLC with epidermal growth factor receptor...