29 July 2020 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Puma biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBYI) licensing partner Specialised Therapeutics Asia has received marketing approval of NERLYNX (neratinib) in Malaysia from the Drug Control Agency, under Malaysia's Ministry of Health, the company said.

NERLYNX is indicated for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early stage hormone receptor positive HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer and who are less than one year from completion of prior adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy.

Up to 20% of patients with breast cancer tumors over-express the HER2 protein (HER2-positive disease) and in the ExteNET study, 57% of patients were found to have tumors that were hormone-receptor positive.

HER2-positive breast cancer is often more aggressive than other types of breast cancer, increasing the risk of disease progression and death.

Although research has shown that trastuzumab can reduce the risk of early stage HER2-positive breast cancer recurring, up to 25% of patients treated with trastuzumab experience recurrence within 10 years, the majority of which are metastatic recurrences.

Puma biotechnology, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a focus on the development and commercialization of innovative products to enhance cancer care.

Puma in-licenses the global development and commercialization rights to PB272 (neratinib, oral), PB272 (neratinib, intravenous) and PB357.

Neratinib, oral was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017 for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early stage HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer, following adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy, and is marketed in the United States as NERLYNX (neratinib) tablets.

In February 2020, NERLYNX was also approved by the FDA in combination with capecitabine for the treatment of adult patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received two or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting.

NERLYNX was granted marketing authorization by the European Commission in 2018 for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early stage hormone receptor-positive HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer and who are less than one year from completion of prior adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy.