Novartis reports new Zometa data

Novartis has published data in the September issue of The CancerJournal, also reported at the European Cancer Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which demonstrates that its bisphosphonate drug Zometa (zoledronic acid for injection) reduces the incidence of cancer-related bone complications in patients with multiple myeloma or advanced breast cancer, and also that Zometa delays the time to onset of the first skeletal-related event, at a convenient dosing schedule of a 15-minute infusion time.

Previously, Novartis had gained marketing clearance for Zometa as a treatment for hypercalcemia of malignancy in more than 40 countries, including the European Union, the USA, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada and Australia, and the company also recently filed for EU and US approval for the treatment of bone metastases associated with a broad range of tumor types (Marketletters passim).