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drugsProductApproved2017🇪🇺🇬🇧🇦🇺

Neratinib

A pill taken for a year after trastuzumab to further reduce recurrence in HER2-positive, hormone-positive breast cancer, limited by severe diarrhoea.

ExteNET: extended adjuvant neratinib for 1 year after trastuzumab improved 5-year iDFS (90.2% vs 87.7%, HR 0.73), with benefit concentrated in HR+ disease that started within a year of trastuzumab. NALA (with capecitabine, metastatic): PFS HR 0.76 and fewer CNS interventions. Grade 3 diarrhoea ~40% without prophylaxis; loperamide prophylaxis or dose escalation (CONTROL) mitigates it.

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Neratinib
PubChem
Modality
Small-molecule irreversible pan-HER kinase inhibitor
Mechanism
Irreversible covalent inhibitor of HER1/HER2/HER4 kinases.
Brand / code
Nerlynx
Dosing & schedule
Route
Oral
Schedule
240 mg once daily with food for 1 year (adjuvant); with capecitabine in metastatic
Dose modifications
Dose escalation (120→160→240 mg) over 2 weeks; loperamide prophylaxis
Monitoring
Diarrhoea, liver enzymes
Medicare
Part D (self-administered)

Oral, self-administered, so it is a Part D drug: covered through a stand-alone Part D plan or Medicare Advantage drug benefit, usually on the specialty tier with 25 to 33% coinsurance until the annual cap ($2,000 in 2025, $2,100 in 2026).

Commercial insurance
covered with prior authorisation

Covered for FDA-labelled and NCCN-listed uses, but almost always behind prior authorisation confirming diagnosis, biomarker and line of therapy; dispensed through a specialty pharmacy.

Assistance programmes

Part D out-of-pocket capped at $2,000 (2025) / $2,100 (2026). Medicare patients cannot use manufacturer co-pay cards; charity funds (PAN, HealthWell, CancerCare) and the Extra Help subsidy are the routes.

Sources: Medicare.gov: Drug coverage (Part D) · Medicare.gov: Costs for Medicare drug coverage (annual out-of-pocket cap). Not medical or financial advice; verify with your plan.

NICE recommendedNICE TA612 · 2019SMC: accepted
Appraised for
Extended adjuvant treatment of HR-positive, HER2-positive early breast cancer completed less than 1 year after trastuzumab
NHS England
Routinely funded for the appraised indication (or via managed access)

Sources: NICE TA612 · SMC advice: neratinib. Funding decisions are indication-specific and change monthly; verify with NICE and your treating team.

Regulatory

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Approvals

RegionYearIndication
US2017Extended adjuvant HER2+ early breast cancer after trastuzumab
US2020HER2+ metastatic breast cancer with capecitabine after ≥2 anti-HER2 regimens

Safety

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Toxicity profile
Adverse eventAny gradeGrade 3+
Diarrhoea
95%
40%
Nausea
43%
Fatigue
27%

without prophylaxis; ~15% grade 3 with escalation. Events listed without rates were not read from a primary source; see the label. Blank cells mean the figure was not sourced, not that it is zero.

Trials

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Recruiting now (live from ClinicalTrials.gov)

Recruiting trials near you · live from ClinicalTrials.gov
Neratinib
intervention: Neratinib
Open on ClinicalTrials.gov →

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Latest papers

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Literature trend48 papers in the last 12 months-20% vs prior 12How this is computed
Latest papers · live from Europe PMC
Open in Europe PMC

Query for this drug: (TITLE:"Neratinib" OR ABSTRACT:"Neratinib" OR TITLE:"Nerlynx" OR ABSTRACT:"Nerlynx") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Neratinib, not a curated reading list.

Connected

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