NEW YORK (Askume) – Pfizer (PFE.N) said it hopes to boost use of its drug Braftovi by increasing doctors’ awareness of, and testing for, rare mutations in lung cancer.
The company on Saturday announced three-year follow-up data from a Phase 2 study of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with the BRAF V600E mutation who received Braftovi and another Pfizer drug, Mektovi, as first-line treatments. The study showed that their median progression-free survival, a measure of how long treated patients live before their cancer worsens, was more than two and a half years.
Chris Boshoff, Pfizer’s chief oncology officer, said the new data supports using the drug as a standard treatment for this group and that he expects the drug to reach up to 60% of lung cancer patients with the mutation.
The above mutations are found in about 2% to 3% of lung cancers, he said.
Boshoff said the current standard treatments for such patients are immunotherapy and chemotherapy. The combination of Braftovi and Mektovi has been approved since last year to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer carrying the mutation.
“All patients with lung cancer should be screened for BRAF mutations, which can be done with a simple blood test,” he said. “This is a relatively simple test that can identify patients who would significantly benefit from targeted therapy.”
Less than 50% of lung cancer patients in the United States are tested for this mutation, he said. Globally, the numbers are even lower.
“Pfizer is particularly well positioned in this area to encourage testing and education for physicians, pathologists, patients and patient advocacy groups, not only in the U.S. but globally,” Boshoff said.
Pfizer generated nearly $400 million in sales of Braftovi and Mektovi last year, according to LSEG, but analysts don’t currently expect significant growth from those drugs.
Boshoff said one area where BRAFTOV could expand is colorectal cancer, where BRAF-mutated cancers account for 10% of cancers. Data from the company’s late-stage colorectal cancer study is expected to be released by the end of the year, he said.
