Swiss global health-care company Roche announced that its new immune-system boosting cancer drug, atezolizumab, could soon win regulatory approval as the drug has given positive results in tests. On Sunday, the company released data at the European Cancer Congress in Vienna and said that the drug could help people suffering from lung and bladder cancers.

The company headquartered in Basel said that during the Phase II trial, the immunotherapy drug decreased tumors in more than 25% individuals who reported to have medium and high levels of PD-L1. Two separate Phase II trials were conducted to target advanced non-small cell lung cancer, according to the company. People who were receiving atezolizumab drug lived more than seven months longer than people who underwent chemotherapy. The drug was also found effective in shrinking tumors in about 27% of lung cancer sufferers, the company added.

The successful trials of the new drug have suggested that atezolizumab is going to be a blockbuster for the company. It will help the company to keep pace with big companies, like Merck & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb. According to the company, the new drug will be available in market in late 2016.

In an earlier statement, Sandra Hornung, Roche's chief medical officer, said, “We plan to submit these results to global health authorities to bring this potential new option to people as soon as possible”.

In February, the Swiss company’s atezolizumab received ‘breakthrough therapy status’ from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Worldwide, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in men and women, and was responsible for 1.56 million deaths annually, as of 2012.

Bladder cancer is the 9th leading cause of cancer with 430,000 new cases and 165,000 deaths occurring in 2012.