OSI Pharmaceuticals' Tarceva Granted European Approval in Switzerland

The Swiss health authority, Swissmedic, has approved OSI Pharmaceuticals' Tarceva for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after failure of at least one prior chemotherapy regimen.

Tarceva (erlotinib) is an oral tablet indicated for daily administration. Tarceva is the only drug in the epidermal growth factor receptor class to demonstrate in a Phase III clinical trial an increase in survival in advanced NSCLC patients, according to the company.