July 30, 2012GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss drug maker Novartis AG says it has received European approval to market Afinitor for treatment of women with the most common form of advanced breast cancer.
Afinitor is already approved to treat various tumors of the pancreas, kidney and brain.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the pill-based drug earlier this month for use in combination with Aromasin for postmenopausal women with recurring hormone receptor positive breast cancer lacking the protein HER2.
Novartis said Monday that the European Commission's approval was based on a trial of more than 700 patients showing those treated with the two drugs lived significantly longer before their disease progressed.
The company said recently its annual sales of Afinitor could rise above the $1 billion mark with the new approvals.
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