The Food and Drug Administration expanded the approval of Kisqali, a drug for metastatic breast cancer, to also treat patients with earlier stages of the disease, drugmaker Novartis said Tuesday.

While Verzenio, a drug in the same class, has been approved to lower the risk of early breast cancer returning, it's only for people with a very high risk of recurrence. Kisqali will be available to a much broader group of patients, whose disease may not be as aggressive at the time of diagnosis, Novartis said.

The potential market for the Novartis drug Kisqali could grow markedly, now that certain early-stage breast cancer patients will be able to receive it.

Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, comments on the progress of the firm's Kisqali metastatic breast cancer drug after the company recently received an extended approval for it from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Novartis NVS announced that the FDA has approved breast cancer drug Kisqali (ribociclib) for a broader population. The regulatory body approved Kisqali in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (AI) for the adjuvant treatment of people with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-) stage II and III early breast cancer (EBC) at high risk of recurrence,