Risk Of Developing Liver Cancer After HCV Treatment

Monday, July 23, 2012

Combination of Tarceva, Nexavar fails to meet main goal of Phase III liver cancer study

July 23, 2012
Combination of Tarceva, Nexavar fails to meet main goal of Phase III liver cancer study
Last Updated:July 23, 2012 07:36

Bayer, Onyx Pharmaceuticals and Astellas announced Monday that a late-stage trial investigating the combination of Tarceva (erlotinib) and Nexavar (sorafenib) failed to meet the main goal of a late-stage trial in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). "The data from SEARCH showed that the addition of Tarceva to Nexavar did not provide additional benefit to patients with unresectable HCC," remarked Dimitris Voliotis, vice president of global clinical development oncology at Bayer.

The SEARCH study randomised 720 patients with advanced liver cancer to receive treatment with Nexavar twice daily, either in combination with Tarceva once daily or placebo. Results demonstrated that the addition of Tarceva to Nexavar did not improve overall survival compared to Nexavar alone. The companies noted that data from the trial will be presented at a future medical meeting.

Nexavar, which is being jointly developed by Bayer and Onyx, is approved in the US and other countries for the treatment of patients with unresectable HCC and for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. Tarceva is used to treat lung cancer and is co-marketed by Astellas and Roche's Genentech unit.

Analysts at Cheuvreux said the study results were a small negative for Bayer, but they left peak sales forecasts for Nexavar unchanged at 971 million euros ($1.2 billion) in 2019. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Roche noted while the company provided financial support as well as Tarceva for the trial, it did not have a development plan for the drug in liver cancer, either alone or as part of a combination.

Reference Articles
Bayer says Nexavar-Tarceva trial unsuccessful - (CNBC)
Bayer Says Phase III Tarceva-Nexavar Study Fails - (FinanzNachrichten)
Bayer Says Phase III Tarceva-Nexavar Study Fails - (NASDAQ)
Addition of Tarceva (erlotinib) to Nexavar (sorafenib) did not Provide Additional Benefit to Patients with Unresectable Liver Cancer Versus Nexavar alone in Phase 3 Trial - (PR Newswire)

Source - http://www.firstwordplus.com/Fws.do?src=corp_site&articleid=3BC42477F6134983B32824385309019C

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