Roche's Avastin misses key data point in brain cancer study

ZURICH | Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:43pm EST

(Reuters) ? Swiss drugmaker Roche?s cancer drug Avastin failed to make a statistically significant difference to survival rates of patients with a common form of brain cancer in a late-stage study, the company said on Saturday.

The Phase III AVAglio study presented at the Society for Neuro-Oncology congress in Washington on Saturday showed Avastin, combined with radiation and chemotherapy, reduced the risk of cancer worsening or death, the Basel-based drugmaker said in a news release.

But the drug did not reach statistical significance in overall survival, a key data point. Further data are expected next year, Roche said.

?The interim results for overall survival (OS), the other co-primary endpoint, did not reach statistical significance,? the company said in the statement.

Earlier data from the study published in August showed Avastin significantly extended progression-free survival of people with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Avastin is Roche?s third-biggest seller and is approved to treat several types of cancer, including breast, kidney, colorectal and ovarian cancers.

(Reporting by Katharina Bart and Caroline Copley; editing by Jason Webb)

Source: http://3benefits.com/2012/11/18/roches-avastin-misses-key-data-point-in-brain-cancer-study/

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