Opdualag licensed for patients with advanced melanoma
Source: GOV.UK, December 2023
This is a cancer medicine used to treat advanced melanoma, a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body. The main risk factor for melanoma is exposure to ultraviolet light, which comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds. Around 17,000 cases of melanoma are diagnosed every year in the UK, although not all of those are advanced melanoma.
Opdualag has been authorised through Project Orbis, a global partnership between the MHRA, the Therapeutics Goods Administration in Australia, Health Canada, the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore, Swissmedic, Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária in Brazil and Israel’s Ministry of Health, coordinated by the US Food and Drug Administration. This programme reviews and approves promising cancer drugs, helping patients to access treatments more quickly.
Julian Beach, MHRA Interim Executive Director, Healthcare Quality and Access, said:
Project Orbis aims to open access to safe and effective new cancer drugs for patients that need them.
As with all products, we will keep the safety of Opdualag under close review.