Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleNovartis' Pluvicto shows promise in slowing prostate cancer progression in early stages, with plans for broader regulatory approval.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Novartis said on Monday that its targeted radiotherapy Pluvicto was shown to slow progression of a certain type of prostate cancer, raising the prospect of treatment in an earlier disease stage for a drug technology that the drugmaker has pioneered.
The Swiss drugmaker reported a late-stage trial showed a "clinically meaningful benefit" in progression-free survival with a positive trend in overall survival in patients with metastatic prostate cancer that still responds to standard hormone therapy.
Almost all of those patients ultimately progress to a form of cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy, a setting where Pluvicto is already approved, the company added.
"These data suggest using (Pluvicto) in an earlier disease setting," Novartis said, adding that this could address a significant unmet need.
Novartis only provided a brief summary of trial results and said details would be presented at a medical conference and that it would likely request regulatory approval for wider use in the second half of the year.
Pluvicto is part of a class of drugs that combines cell-killing radioactive particles with molecules that attach themselves to tumours, where Novartis has a leading position.
The drug saw first-quarter revenue gain 20% to $371 million.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Editing by Friederike Heine)
Pluvicto is a targeted radiotherapy drug developed by Novartis that is used to treat certain types of prostate cancer, particularly in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
The late-stage trial showed a clinically meaningful benefit in progression-free survival and a positive trend in overall survival for patients treated with Pluvicto.
Novartis plans to present detailed trial results at a medical conference and is likely to request regulatory approval for wider use of Pluvicto in the second half of the year.
In the first quarter, Pluvicto saw a revenue gain of 20%, amounting to $371 million.
Almost all patients with metastatic prostate cancer ultimately progress to a form of cancer that no longer responds to hormone therapy, indicating a significant unmet need for effective earlier treatment options.
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