Roche files Avastin for advanced renal cell cancer
ZURICH, April 19 (Reuters) - Roche (ROG.VX) said on Thursday it had submitted a marketing authorisation application to the European Medicines Evaluation Agency for the use of Avastin to treat renal cell cancer.
The drug would be used in combination with interferon for the first line treatment of patients with advanced and/or metastatic renal cell cancer, the group said on Thursday.
The filing was based on data from the pivotal phase III Avoren study, which showed Avastin combined with interferon alpha-2a significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with advanced renal cell cancer, Roche said.
The results indicated a trend towards an improvement in overall survival and further analyses of the Avoren study were underway, the group said.
Avastin was originally developed as a treatment for colorectal cancer, but it is now being used in other tumour types, including breast cancer.
Roche, the world's largest maker of cancer drugs, said the results would be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Recent scientific advances in fighting cancer have made oncology a fast growing and highly profitable section of the pharmaceuticals market, tempting many more companies into the field.
((Reporting by Katie Reid;
Email: katie.reid@reuters.com
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Telephone: +41 (0) 44 631 7320)) Keywords: ROCHE AVASTIN/
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