01:21 PM EDT, 05/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Pfizer ( PFE ) said Friday its Lorbrena drug for an advanced form of lung cancer helped patients live longer without disease progression, based on long-term follow-up results of a late-stage trial.

Roughly 60% of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer and treated with Lorbrena were alive without disease progression following five years, the drugmaker said. This compares with an 8% rate for patients who were treated with the company's Xalkori treatment, the phase 3 trial results showed. Results also showed an 81% reduction in the rate of disease progression or death versus Xalkori, according to a statement.

"These results from the Crown trial are unprecedented, as the majority of patients on Lorbrena are living beyond five years without disease progression," said Roger Dansey, Pfizer's ( PFE ) chief development officer of oncology. The results support Lorbrena as a standard of care for the first-line treatment of people with for ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer, Dansey said.

Pfizer ( PFE ) shares were up 0.9% in Friday trade. Lorbrena is already approved in the US for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive.

The company said the safety profiles of Lorbrena and Xalkori in the five-year follow-up were in line with previous findings, with no new safety signals seen for Lorbrena. The drug showed a 94% reduction in the risk of developing intracranial progression. In patients without brain metastases at baseline receiving Lorbrena, only four out of 114 developed brain metastases within the first 16 months of treatment, compared with 39 of 109 patients who received Xalkori.

Half of the patients in the Crown trial were still receiving Lorbrena at the time of analysis versus 5% of patients receiving Xalkori, the company said.

Pfizer ( PFE ) expects Lorbrena's annual sales to exceed $1 billion by 2030, Reuters reported, citing the company.

"We believe this is a blockbuster opportunity for Pfizer ( PFE )," the news agency reported, citing Pfizer ( PFE ) Chief Oncology Officer Chris Boshoff. With "increased uptake, increased market penetration, longer duration of treatment, many more patients tested" for ALK mutations, Boshoff reportedly said "we believe it's a very different opportunity than Xalkori."

The company reported earlier this month that Lorbrena sales jumped 46% year over year to $164 million in the first quarter. Pfizer ( PFE ) expects double-digit growth to continue in coming quarters, Reuters quoted Boshoff as saying.

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