(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc and Astellas Pharma Inc said on Thursday their drug to treat a type of prostate cancer met the main goal in a late-stage trial.
The drug, Xtandi, in combination with an anti-hormone therapy showed statistically significant improvement in metastasis-free survival rate in men with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) when compared with the standalone anti-hormone therapy.
The oral drug is already approved to treat metastatic CRPC.
Patients with CRPC experience cancer progression despite androgen deprivation therapy, a treatment that blocks the production of the hormone.
More than 161,000 men are estimated to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, according to the American Cancer Society.
Pfizer acquired Medivation Inc in 2016, taking on its earlier agreement with Japan's Astellas to jointly develop and commercialize the drug.
Shares of Pfizer rose 1.4 percent to $35.55 in light premarket trading.
(Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
