The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said
on Friday it had approved the Sanofi SA and Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals Inc drug Zaltrap for patients with
metastatic colorectal cancer whose tumors have failed to respond
to earlier treatment with chemotherapy. The infused medicine, to be taken in combination with
standard chemotherapy, will compete with Roche Holding AG's
Avastin and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's Erbitux.
Industry analysts say they expect Zaltrap to win relatively
wide use, but doubt it will overtake sales of those widely used
older treatments.
