(Adds analyst comment, detail.)
By Anita Greil
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
ZURICH -(Dow Jones)- Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) said Monday that a new late stage study found that treatment with Avastin extends the time patients live without their breast cancer getting worse, thereby meeting the study's primary goal.
Roche, based in Basel, said the study investigated the benefits of combining Avastin with chemotherapy, against treatment with chemotherapy alone.
In the study, which involved 1,237 patients who hadn't received previous chemotherapy for their advanced cancer, Avastin was given either in combination with Roche's chemotherapy pill Xeloda, or with other commonly used chemotherapies.
Roche said that Avastin yielded superior progression-free survival in both treatment groups, but didn't give further details. The data will be presented at a future medical meeting, Roche said.
Avastin is among Roche's best selling drugs, with sales of 3.7 billion Swiss francs ($3 billion) in the nine months to Sept. 30.
The drug was developed by Genentech Inc. (DNA), a U.S. biotechnology company, majority-owned by Roche. Roche in July said it plans to take over Genentech in full, but the offer has been rejected as too low. Roche is still committed to its bid, Chief Executive Severin Schwan said last month.
At 1000 GMT, Roche shares were up CHF6.40, or 4.3%, at CHF156.90, in a higher Swiss market. The stock is down 20% in the year so far, in line with the European healthcare sector, but outperforming the Swiss market index, which is down 38%.
Pharmaceuticals stocks have benefited from the uncertainty in financial markets this year, compared to other sectors, because their sales aren't closely linked to the shape of the economy overall.
The study is part of a set of data that Roche and Genentech have to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to obtain full approval for selling the drug as breast cancer treatment in the U.S. In February, the FDA approved the drug on condition the companies file more data.
In the U.S., this latest study "should help to convert the accelerated approval granted in February to full approval and hence make marketing easier," said analysts at Deutsche Bank in a note to clients. Deutsche Bank has a buy rating on Roche.
As a result of this study, Avastin will also probably be prescribed more often, because the trial showed the drug has benefits when added to widely-used chemotherapies, Deutsche Bank said.
With a full approval, Avastin sales for breast cancer use in the U.S. alone could amount to CHF1.5 billion, said Martin Voegtli, analyst in Zurich with private bank Sal. Oppenheim, who has a buy rating on the stock. He predicts total Avastin sales of CHF14.8 billion by 2013.
However, one important piece of data is still missing, noted Birgit Kulhoff, analyst in Zurich with Swiss private bank Rahn & Bodmer. Neither Roche nor Genentech said whether the addition of Avastin helped prevent deaths from breast cancer, a secondary goal of the study.
Conceding that it may be too early to have evidence on that goal, Kulhoff said: "This is what everyone is focusing on. Particularly in Europe, you need to show benefits in overall survival, to be able to sell the drug."
Rahn & Bodmer has no ratings on stocks, but Roche is on the bank's list of recommended shares.
Company Web Site: http://www.roche.com
-By Anita Greil, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 8044 ; anita.greil@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2008 05:28 ET (10:28 GMT)

Publié le 24 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones