Swiss drugmaker Roche has filed its Avastin drug for use in previously untreated advanced breast cancer in Europe, the company said on Monday, following positive late-stage trial data.
A Phase III study had shown the addition of Avastin to standard chemotherapy as a primary treatment for advanced breast cancer doubled the time women lived without their disease advancing, compared to chemotherapy alone, Roche said.
The drug — which works by starving tumors of blood supply — had already been filed to treat breast cancer in the United States in May 2006.
Avastin was initially approved for use in advanced colorectal cancer in early 2005 in Europe and in 2004 in the United States, and it has also been filed for fighting lung cancer in the United States.
Roche expects to file the drug for use in non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease, later this year. It has also been filed in Japan for use in colorectal cancer.
Avastin is already one of the top sellers for Roche and is produced by majority-owned U.S. biotech company Genentech, which is looking to widen the potential blockbuster in 25 cancer types including pancreatic, ovarian and prostate, and renal cell carcinoma.
Industry analysts said the latest filing had been expected but was still a small positive for Roche certificates, the company’s most widely traded form of equity. They rose 0.2 percent to 206.30 francs by 0730 GMT in a slightly weaker Swiss stock market.
Roche was also supported by news late on Friday that a judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) had allowed it to continue to import its experimental anemia drug CERA, which is at the center of a patent fight between Roche and Amgen.
Amgen had requested the ITC prohibit Roche from importing the drug, which is not yet approved, into the United States. Roche said the decision cleared the way for it to focus on obtaining U.S. regulatory approval.
