J&J's prostate cancer drug Zytiga approved in EU

Men with advanced cases of prostate cancer who have already undergone chemotherapy have been allowed access to a new, secondary treatment drug for the disease.

Zytiga, manufactured by pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, has just been approved for use in Europe and in April it was given the go-ahead in America by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The new drug was approved by the European Commission after an accelerated review by the European Medicines Agency.

In both the US and Europe, Zytiga has been approved for use when taken in conjunction with the prednisone steroid.

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The drug works by preventing the production of the testosterone hormone in the testes and the tumour itself, therefore limiting, if not stooping, the tumour from growing.  

In a statement released by Johnson & Johnson, the company commented: “A trial of nearly 1,200 patients showed that those treated with Zytiga and prednisone lived an average of four months longer than those treated with prednisone and a options.”

It is thought the drug is likely to be well received by patients as other treatments of a similar nature are only available in injection form, whereas Zytiga is a once-a-day oral pill.

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