USFDA approves Roche’s lymphoma therapy

The US health regulator has approved Roche’s therapy for treating a type of rare cancer called follicular lymphoma.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (USFDA) approval for Lunsumio was based on an early-to mid-stage study that showed the drug cleared signs of cancer in patients, with most patients responding to the treatment for at least 18 months, the company said last week.

The drug, which will be available in the United States (US) in the coming weeks, is expected to cost nearly $180,000 for a fixed course of eight cycles of treatment, the company told Reuters.

Follicular lymphoma is a slow-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer that starts in body’s white blood cells called lymphocytes.

The drug, known chemically as mosunetuzumab, can be administered at a hospital’s outpatient center, unlike some other follicular lymphoma drugs that require extended hospital stays.

Roche’s drug would compete with follicular lymphoma therapies from rivals like Bayer’s Aliqopa, Novartis’s Kymriah and Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta.

Edits by EP News Bureau