Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. is pleased to announce that Health Canada has issued a marketing authorization with conditions for Zykadia (ceritinib), a lung cancer treatment that addresses an unmet medical need for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive locally advanced (not amenable to curative therapy) or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or who were intolerant to crizotinib.

“The majority of ALK+ patients are younger and have never smoked, which represents a demographic that many are surprised to hear associated with this devastating illness. Until recently, treatment options have been limited.” states Dr. Jeffrey Rothenstein, MD, FRCPC. “Zykadia represents an important new option for patients who relapse after starting initial therapy.”

For more details, go to: http://www.novartis.ca/cs/www.novartis.ca-v2/downloads/en/News/Zykadia_News_Release_APRIL_6_ENG_FINAL.pdf