Pharmatimes has reported several new products coming to market this month:

In the UK Alimta (pemetrexed) developed by Eli Lilly has been cleared for sale by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). It will be used to treat malignant pleural mesothelioma a type of aggressive lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure in cases where the patient cannot be operated on.

In Europe the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given Roche permission for ‘significantly wider use’ of Avastin (bevacizumab) for metastatic colorectal cancer allowing Avastin to be used in combination with any chemotherapy drug for first and later-line treatment. Roche has also won expanded approval for its oral oncology drug Xeloda (capecitabine) for advanced colorectal cancer. http://www.ecancermedicalscience.com/news-insider-news.asp?itemId=94

In Japan Bayer received approval for use of Nexavar (sorafenib) to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) as well as gaining priority review status with the Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for its use against liver cancer.