Novartis to sell 4 new cancer drugs by 2011 -WSJ

ZURICH, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Novartis AG (NOVN.VX) aims to start selling four new cancer drugs by 2011 and at least one of the drugs could reach sales of $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Novartis plans to report positive data on RAD001, the first new drug it plans to bring to the market, regarding its effectiveness against lymphoma, another type of cancer, at the American Society of Hematology later this week, the WSJ quoted David Epstein, president of Novartis Oncology, as saying.

Novartis is testing RAD001 against several types of cancer, including endocrine tumours and renal-cell cancer, the paper reported.

Novartis also aims to launch ASA404 for non-small-cell lung cancer, SOM230 for a rare group of neroendocrine tumours and LBH589 for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. (Reporting by Katie Reid, editing by Will Waterman)