US approves lung cancer drug costing 780,000 USD

The US has just licensed the drug tarlatamab-dlle to treat metastatic small cell lung cancer, costing 780,000 USD for one year of treatment.

The decision was made by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 16. The drug is sold under the trade name Imdelltra , a targeted immunotherapy that uses specific antibodies to bind to cancer cells and immune cells, thereby instructing the immune system to destroy cancer. The drug is for adults with advanced stages of difficult-to-treat small cell lung cancer.

Clinical trial results of the drug, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a 40% tumor reduction in patients receiving 10 mg of tarlatamab via an intravenous infusion , every two weeks. Manufacturer Amgen said the drug price in the US is 31,500 USD for the first treatment cycle, 30,000 USD for additional infusions. One year of treatment costs up to 780,000 USD, considered one of the most expensive lung cancer drugs.

Patients participating in the study had an average survival time of 14.3 months, higher than the usual prognosis of about 5 months. Lung cancer is divided into two types: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer . Among them, non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type (about 85%), 15% of patients with small cell cancer. This is the group Imdelltra targets.

Illustration of a lung cancer tumor. (Photo: Unplash).

About 35,000 Americans get the disease every year, said Jay Bradner, Amgen's chief scientific officer. This is one of the fastest growing and most aggressive types of cancer.

In clinical trials, the most common side effect was cytokine release syndrome , a condition that occurs when the immune system overreacts strongly to an infectious agent or immune drug.

Amgen said it needs to conduct additional large and important trials in patients with advanced small cell lung cancer to receive full FDA approval. Currently the drug is only approved conditionally.

The company is also testing tarlatamab to treat patients with early-stage small cell lung cancer. If these studies are successful, Wall Street analysts estimate that the drug could bring in more than $2 billion in annual revenue for the company.