Roche’s Tecentriq Approved in EU for Metastatic Nonsmall-Cell Lung Cancer

The European Commission has approved Roche’s blockbuster oncology drug Tecentriq (atezolizumab) as a first-line therapy for adults with metastatic nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors highly express the biomarker PD-L1.

The approval was supported by data from a phase 3 study, enrolling 572 patients, which showed that Tecentriq improved overall survival by seven more months than in patients receiving chemotherapy.

The new approval is Tecentriq’s fifth lung cancer indication in the EU. The drug earned almost $3 billion in global sales in 2020.