Bayer, Onyxs Pill Doesnt Slow Breast Cancer In Second Study
The pill in combination with chemotherapy drug paclitaxel showed a “positive trend” toward helping women live longer without their disease getting worse, but the results werent statistically significant, the two drugmakers said in an e- mailed statement today. Bayer and Onyx didnt say how long it took the womens tumors to progress.
“These encouraging data warrant further investigation,” lead scientist William Gradishar, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University, said in the statement, adding that women with advanced breast cancer often lack treatment options.
Results of a different trial presented last week at the European Cancer Organization and European Society for Medical Oncology conference in Berlin showed that Nexavar delayed progression of breast cancer by 6.4 months when combined with Roche Holding AGs chemotherapy pill Xeloda, compared with 4.1 months for chemotherapy alone. Bayer is now considering whether to begin the last stage of clinical trials needed before Nexavar, already approved for use in kidney and liver tumors, could be marketed for breast cancer as well.
Bayer will decide by early next year whether to move Nexavar into the final stage of clinical testing, Robert Rosen, head of global oncology at Bayer, said in an interview at last weeks conference. The German drugmaker doesnt expect the medicine to reach the breast cancer market before late 2012.
Blockbuster Potential
Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, and Emeryville, California-based Onyx are conducting two more mid-stage trials of Nexavar in breast cancer, the companies said. Full results of the study reported today will be presented at a future medical conference.
Bayer forecasts that Nexavar may generate as much as 750 million euros ($1.1 billion) in annual sales for breast cancer if approved by regulators, Rosen said.