Roche Gains US Nod For Avastin In Kidney Cancer; Market Crowded
August 03 2009 - 4:35AM
Dow Jones News
Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) Monday said the U.S. health regulator
has approved its Avastin treatment for use kidney cancer, where it
will go up against heated competition from established drugs from
Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Wyeth and Bayer SE (BAY.XE).
The Basel-based drugmaker won approval after showing that
patients suffering from kidney cancer lived nearly twice as long
without the cancer growing when they took Avastin in combination
with interferon alpha, another treatment.
Although there are far fewer kidney cancer patients than those
suffering from breast, lung and colon cancer, the American Cancer
Society says roughly 13,000 patients die annually of kidney cancer,
the eighth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S.
Roche's approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was
widely expected, and means the drug is set to compete in an
intensely competitive market.
Established kidney cancer drugs include Nexavar, manufactored by
Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX), Pfizer Inc's Sutent
treatment and Wyeth's Torisel. Those drugs have carved out a large
share of the market as sole treatments, without the use of
interferon.
Nevertheless, analysts expect Avastin, which is already approved
to treat advanced breast, lung, brain and colorectal cancer and had
2008 sales of $2.69 billion in the U.S., to make inroads into
kidney cancer, in part because it is being studied for use in other
combinations. Those include Novartis AG's (NVS) Afinitor, which
works by attacking the mTOR protein, which is involved in
tumor-cell division and blood-vessel growth.
Analysts lauded the approval but highlighted the small and
crowded market.
"The approval was expected and we estimate that it could
increase revenues by CHF300 million to CHF500 million," Bank
Vontobel analyst Silvia Schanz said. She rates Roche at buy with a
CHF185 target price.
Roche shares shrugged off the approval, partly because the
drug's vetting was already priced into shares and doctors had
already been using Avastin off-label, or before approval was
formalized, in kidney cancer.
At 0755 GMT, the stock was CHF0.80 lower, or down 0.5%, at
CHF167.70, bucking a 0.2% rise in the Stoxx 600 health index.
Avastin has been approved to treat kidney cancer in Europe since
2007.
Company Web Site: http://www.roche.com
-By Katharina Bart, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 8043;
katharina.bart@dowjones.com