Roche says FDA fast tracks atezolizumab in specific type of lung cancer

Swiss drugmaker Roche's logo is seen at their headquarters in Basel (Copyright Reuters 2016)

ZURICH – Roche Holding AG said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review for atezolizumab for treating people with a specific type of lung cancer.

The designation covers treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease expresses the protein PD-L1 as determined by an FDA-approved test, and who have progressed on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Roche had announced last month that the FDA had also granted priority review for atezolizumab for the treatment of some people with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

(Reporting by Michael Shields)