Amgen Drug Wins US Approval for Type of Advanced Lung Cancer (1)

Amgen Inc.won US approval for a new drug to treat a particularly aggressive form of advanced lung cancer, providing a badly needed new option for patients when chemotherapy stops working.

Amgen’s drug is among the few treatments cleared for patients with small cell lung cancer whose tumors have stopped responding to chemo. The US Food and Drug Administration granted it accelerated approval, a shortcut to the market for urgently needed therapies, after a study showed it shrank tumors in about 40% of patients who received it after other treatments failed to work.

About 35,000 Americans annually are diagnosed ...