Eli Lilly Highlights Verzenio’s Survival Benefit Amid Novartis Competition in Early Breast Cancer

Facing increased competition from Novartis’ Kisqali, Eli Lilly has underscored new data showing its drug, Verzenio (abemaciclib), improves overall survival in hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative, high-risk early breast cancer when given for two years as part of adjuvant therapy5.

In a key study, 85.5% of patients treated with Verzenio plus hormone therapy were alive without cancer recurrence at four years, compared to 78.6% with hormone therapy alone—a 6.9% absolute improvement1.

Verzenio plus hormone therapy resulted in a 35% reduction in the risk of breast cancer recurrence compared to hormone therapy alone, with the benefit increasing over time from 2 to 4 years in follow-up analyses1.

Most recently, Lilly has emphasized that Verzenio increases overall survival—a critical outcome for marketing and approval—particularly as Novartis’ Kisqali recently received a broader FDA nod for early breast cancer based on the NATALEE trial54.

Novartis’s Kisqali remains the only CDK4/6 inhibitor to show statistically significant overall survival benefit in the first-line advanced setting, but Verzenio’s new data in the adjuvant, high-risk early-breast cancer population supports continued Lilly marketing and clinical relevance24.

Sources:

1. https://verzenio.lilly.com/early-breast-cancer/what-is-verzenio

2. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/handing-novartis-win-lilly-verzenio-barely-misses-overall-survival-goal-first-line-breast

4. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/novartis-heaps-pressure-lilly-broad-fda-approval-kisqali-early-breast-cancer

5. https://www.empr.com/news/abemaciclib-improves-overall-survival-in-hr-her2-high-risk-early-breast-cancer/