The FDA recently granted another approval to Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. division Taiho Oncology, Inc.’s Lonsurf (trifluridine/tipiracil) for a type of colorectal cancer. The decision provides another treatment option for a condition that respondents to a Zitter Insights survey regard as in need of more effective therapies.
On Aug. 2, the FDA approved Lonsurf as a single agent or in combination with bevacizumab for the treatment of adults with metastatic colorectal cancer previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug and, if Rat sarcoma (RAS) wild-type, an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy. The agency first approved the oral nucleoside antitumor agent on Sept. 22, 2015. The newest use had priority review. Dosing for the tablet is 35 mg/m2 twice daily on days one through five and days eight through 12 of each 28-day cycle. Drugs.com lists the price of 20 6.14 mg/15 mg tablets as more than $4,204.