Merck and AstraZeneca Announced EMA Approval for Lynparza

Lynparza (olaparib) is a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, or PARP inhibitor, and part of Merck & Co. (MRK) and AstraZeneca’s (AZN) global strategic oncology collaboration.

Today, Merck and AstraZeneca announced that the European Medicines Agency (or EMA) approved Lynparza tablets (300 mg twice daily) as a maintenance therapy for platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer.

Lynparza is a PARP inhibitor presently approved for the following indications:

• as a maintenance treatment of recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, in patients who are in complete or partial response to the platinum-containing chemotherapy.
• as a treatment for deleterious germline BRCA mutated advanced ovarian cancer in patients who have undergone at least three prior lines of chemotherapy
• as a treatment for deleterious germline BRCA mutated HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer in patients previously treated with chemotherapy

The approval was based on the two studies, SOLO-2 and Study 19, both of which show the reduced risk of disease progression and death with Lynparza for patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer compared to placebo.

The VanEck Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH) invests 5.5% of its total portfolio in AstraZeneca (AZN), 5.4% in Merck & Co. (MRK), 5.5% in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and 5.1% in Sanofi (SNY).

Check out all the data we’ve added to our quote pages. Now you can get a valuation snapshot, earnings and revenue estimates, and historical data as well as dividend info. Take a look!