Norwegian cancer medication approved in the U.S.

The Norwegian company Algeta has developed a drug against prostate cancer that has been approved by American authorities. "Algeta has developed this medication for 15 years, and this work has now been awarded with this acknowledgement. It is the end of a long run, but at the same time this is when it all begins," says CFO of Algeta, Øystein Soug.

The medication is called Xofigo, formerly known as Alpharadrin, and is directed at prostate cancer at a late stage.

Wednesday's approval from American authorities means that the drug will be sold in the U.S. Algeta has also applied for the drug to be approved in Europe.

Professor Øyvind Bruland and Roy H. Larsen are the entrepeneurs behind the medication, and the persons who started Algeta. They work together with the pharmeceutical company Bayer in the U.S. in order to get the medication out on the market.

According to Soug, the company proved that the medication worked when they received the results from a study two years ago that showed that patients with stage three prostate cancer experienced positive results.

"The results from this study showed that patients with prostate cancer that has spread to the bones lived 3,6 months longer than those patients who were given placebo medication.

Jon Reidar Iversen, chief doctor at the department for cancer treatment at Oslo University Hospital, thinks the U.S.'s approval of the drug is good news. "As far as I know, this is the first Norwegian medication that will have this kind of international reach," he says.

Iversen thinks that the U.S. approving the drug will most likely also lead to an approval from the authorities in the E.U. That means that the medication may eventually also be approved and distributed in Norway.

(Aftenposten)