Specifically, the French drugmaker has received marketing authorisation from the European Commission for Jevtana (cabazitaxel) in combination with prednisone/prednisolone for patients with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer (mHRPC) previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen. The company notes that it is the first approved agent to "significantly extend overall survival in mHRPC patients whose disease has progressed during or after treatment containing docetaxel", eg 15.1 months versus 12.7 months or patients on the chemotherapy mitoxantrone.
Debasish Roychowdhury, head of oncology at Sanofi, noted that Jevtana in combination with prednisone reduced the risk of death by nearly one-third and extended progression-free survival compared to mitoxantrone. As such, it offers "new hope for patients across Europe with limited treatment options should their disease progress following first-line therapy".
Jevtana has already been approved in Israel, Curacao and Brazil, as well as the USA where it received the green light in June 2010, more than three months ahead of schedule. The launch across the pond has exceeded Sanofi's expectations, and the drug brought in 82 million euros last year, after being on the market for less than six months.
**Published in "Pharma Times"
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