Genentech, OSI report Avastin plus Tarceva limits progression in non-small cell lung cancer

New York, June 5 - Genentech, Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals presented results from a phase 2 trial suggesting the addition of Avastin to either Tarceva or chemotherapy improved progression-free survival, the primary endpoint, compared to chemotherapy alone for non-small cell lung cancer.

The study, reported to the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, compared the combinations of Avastin (bevacizumab) plus Tarceva (erlotinib), and Avastin plus chemotherapy, to chemotherapy alone in patients with recurrent or refractory non-small cell lung cancer.

The median progression-free survival was 4.8 months in the Avastin plus chemotherapy arm, and 4.4 months in the Avastin plus Tarceva arm, compared to 3.0 months in the chemotherapy-alone arm.

The data also suggested that the Avastin plus chemotherapy arm reduced the risk of cancer progression or death by 34% compared to chemotherapy alone and that the Avastin plus Tarceva arm reduced the risk of cancer progression or death by 28% compared to chemotherapy alone.

The companies said that the exploratory nature and small sample size of the study mean the data do not reach statistical significance.

Genentech is a biopharmaceutical company located in South San Francisco, Calif. OSI, based in New York, develops pharmaceutical products.

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