EU APPROVES MABTHERA FOR NHL MAINTENANCE THERAPY

Roche has announced that the European Commission has approved MabThera (rituximab) as maintenance therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), the most common form of indolent NHL. MabThera maintenance therapy reduces the risk of death by almost half (48 percent) for patients with this form of NHL, compared with standard disease management.

MabThera was previously approved in the EU for first-line treatment of both aggressive and indolent NHL (in combination with chemotherapy) and as a second-line monotherapy for indolent NHL. This new indication gives patients with relapsed follicular NHL a better chance to live disease-free for longer, allowing them up to an additional 3 years without new chemotherapy treatments.