Cancer drug gets approval

ELI Lilly & Co, which makes the antidepressant Prozac, yesterday won the backing of a EU health advisory committee for its Alimta treatment for two forms of lung cancer.

The EU’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended approval of the drug for use against non-small cell lung cancer and tumours related to asbestos exposure.

Lilly, based in Indianapolis, won US approval in February for Alimta as a treatment for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer in the lining of the lungs which can appear 10 to 30 years after asbestos exposure.