19 May 2016 - The FDA on Wednesday approved a new immunotherapy drug from Roche to treat bladder cancer, a form of cancer for which there have been no significant new medicines in years.

How much of an impact immunotherapy will have on bladder cancer is a bit unclear since patients have not been followed for a long time. But the F.D.A. found Roche’s data compelling enough, and the need urgent enough, to approve Tecentriq about four months ahead of the agency’s Sept. 12 deadline.

Tecentriq will cost about $12,500 a month. That is roughly in line with the price of the competing checkpoint drugs. The high price of drugs, including cancer drugs, has become a public concern and political issue lately.

Tecentriq, like Keytruda and Opdivo, prevents PD-L1 from binding to PD-1, in that way freeing the immune system to attack. While Keytruda and Opdivo do that by binding to PD-1, Tecentriq instead binds to PD-L1. Roche argues this will make its drug potentially safer, but so far many experts see little difference among the drugs.

For more details, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/business/food-and-drug-administration-immunotherapy-bladder-cancer.html?emc=edit_th_20160519&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=20088616&_r=0