OSI's Tarceva to debut in Japan Dec 18

USA-based OSI Pharmaceuticals says that its drug Tarceva (erlotinib) has been listed on Japan's National Health Insurance drug reimbursement price list and will be launched in that market on December 18. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved the drug on October 19 for the treatment of patients with non-resectable, recurrent and advanced non-small cell lung cancer which is aggravated following chemotherapy.

"We are pleased that lung cancer patients in Japan will now have access to Tarceva, which has been proven to offer a survival benefit with a well-described side-effect profile," said Gabriel Leung, president, (OSI) oncology. "We, along with our collaborators Genentech and Roche, are committed to making Tarceva available to appropriate patients who may benefit from the drug, and to studying additional potential uses of Tarceva, including as a maintenance therapy in first-line NSCLC, in combination with other targeted therapies, and in other tumor types," he added.

Roche's subsidiary Chugai Pharmaceutical submitted the filing for the Japanese approval and will launch and market Tarceva in Japan.