Novartis’s Zykadia ASCENDs First-Line NSCLC Heights But Roche’s Alecensa Gives Chase

Top-line results from the Phase III ASCEND-4 study show that Novartis AG’s oral, selective inhibitor anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor Zykadia (ceritinib) has met its primary endpoint in improving progression-free survival compared with standard chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The data look set to propel the product into the frontline for advanced disease where it would go up against Pfizer Inc.’s multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor Xalkori (crizotinib), which also inhibits ALK among other kinases