AstraZeneca's vandetanib receives FDA approval in medullary thyroid cancer

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the orphan drug vandetanib for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or that has spread to other parts of the body.

Vandetanib is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of symptomatic or progressive medullary thyroid cancer in patients with unresectable (non-operable) locally advanced or metastatic disease. The use of vandetanib in patients with indolent, asymptomatic or slowly progressing disease should be carefully considered because of the treatment-related risks.

"Vandetanib is the only medicine to receive FDA approval specifically for use in patients with advanced medullary thyroid cancer and is the first treatment that AstraZeneca has developed and brought to market under orphan drug designation in the US," said Howard Hutchinson, Chief Medical Officer, AstraZeneca.

The approval of vandetanib is based on the results of the ZETA study, a Phase III, double-blind trial that randomized 331 patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer to vandetanib 300 mg>

A Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) is required for vandetanib due to the risks of QT prolongation, Torsades de pointes, and sudden death. Only prescribers and pharmacies who are certified through the vandetanib REMS program, a restricted distribution program, will be able to prescribe and dispense vandetanib.

AstraZeneca will work to make vandetanib available to patients as soon as possible. Vandetanib will be dispensed exclusively through the pharmacy business unit of Biologics, Inc., an integrated oncology management company.

Vandetanib received orphan drug designation in medullary thyroid cancer in 2005. Vandetanib is also under regulatory review in the European Union and Canada.