Lilly Korea said Tuesday it would release an advanced soft tissue sarcoma treatment Lartruvo (ingredient name: olaratumab) in the domestic market.

Lartruvo is a monoclonal antibody proven to be clinically useful compared with doxorubicin monotherapy, which is the standard therapy for 40 years in the first treatment, in combination with doxorubicin.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety_{식품의약품안전처} approved Lartruvo in March as the first monoclonal antibody permitted to treat advanced soft tissue sarcoma. It can be used in combination with doxorubicin for the treatment of patients with soft tissue sarcoma who are fit for anthracycline containing therapy and cannot undergo radiation therapy or surgery.

Lartruvo was designated as a breakthrough by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for rapid screening and approval in October 2016. After winning conditional marketing license in February 2015 from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the drug also got conditional approval for marketing in November 2016.

Lilly is marketing the treatment in major Western countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Spain, and expects it to be a new alternative for treating patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.

"I am pleased to say that Lartruvo, a treatment that prolongs the survival period compared to standard therapy in soft-tissue sarcoma, where survival is prominent due to high incidence of relatively younger patients than other malignant tumors, offers new treatment alternatives for patients and medical staff," said Paul Henry Huibers, president of Lilly Korea_한국릴리.

To meet the unmet medical needs of soft-tissue sarcoma patients with long-term innovative new drugs, Lilly will do its best to ensure that the insurance benefits of Lartruvo, which is acknowledged for its therapeutic innovation and usefulness at home and abroad, he added.

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