FDA approves Genentech’s cancer immunotherapy Tecentriq for people with a specific type of metastatic lung cancer

First and only anti-PDL1 cancer immunotherapy approved by the FDA for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

“Tecentriq is a new option to help people with this type of previously treated metastatic lung cancer, regardless of PD-L1 expression, live longer than chemotherapy,” said Sandra Horning, chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. “Tecentriq is the first and only approved cancer immunotherapy designed to target the PD-L1 protein, which may play an important role in the way the medicine works.”

“Over the past 15 years, survival rates for advanced lung cancer have been consistently improving,” said Bonnie J. Addario, a lung cancer survivor and founder of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF). “The approval of Tecentriq is another important step for patients by increasing the number of medicines available to people living with lung cancer.”

The Tecentriq development program includes more than 15 clinical trials in lung cancer, including seven Phase III studies in previously untreated (first-line) lung cancer. These studies are evaluating the use of Tecentriq alone or in combination with other medicines.