Four years after disappointing results from a previous study, an Eli Lilly and Company drug has shown promise as a new treatment for liver cancer.
The drug, cyramza, has already been approved to treat certain lung, stomach and colorectal cancers. Lilly is now hoping to get it approved to treat the most common kind of liver cancer — hepatocellular carcinoma — and potentially generate a total of $960 million in sales by 2021.
The late-stage trial met its main goal of helping patients live longer, as well as a secondary goal of slowing down the advancement of the illness.
The company said it hopes to file for marketing approval of the drug for the new indication later this year.