from the WSJ--Genentech to seek FDA approval for avastin for bc in August

[Lani]

Cancer and Eye Drugs
Lift Genentech's Net
By PETER LOFTUS
July 12, 2007; Page A11
Genentech Inc. reported a 41% increase in second-quarter profit, boosted by continued strength in sales of cancer drug Avastin and new eye-disease drug Lucentis.


A 33% increase in U.S. Avastin sales, to $564 million, came mainly from increased use of the drug in lung-cancer patients, said Ian Clark, Genentech's executive vice president of commercial operations. Avastin received U.S. regulatory approval as a lung-cancer treatment last year, adding to its approval in 2004 to treat colorectal cancer.

The South San Francisco, Calif., biotechnology company, which is majority-owned by Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG, said total operating revenue for the quarter rose 37%. U.S. product sales increased 25% to $2.15 billion.

Helped by the better-than-expected second-quarter results, the company boosted its forecast of adjusted 2007 earnings to a range of $2.85 to $2.95 a share, from $2.80 to $2.90 a share.

Shares of Genentech, which reported results after the close of regular trading, slipped to $75.55 in after-hours trading, after rising $1.08 to $75.93 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Investors had been concerned about a slowdown of Avastin sales after a recent European patient trial showed that a low dose of the drug was equally as effective as a higher dose in treating lung cancer. Mr. Clark said that while some doctors would probably now consider using a lower dose, it was too early to draw firm conclusions about how the study would affect Avastin sales.

Doctors also prescribe Avastin to treat breast cancer and an eye disease, though it's not approved for those indications. Genentech plans in August to file for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Avastin as a breast-cancer treatment, and may eventually file for approval to treat kidney cancer.

Another big contributor to the second quarter was Lucentis, which was approved last year to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Lucentis had sales of $209 million, up from just $10 million a year earlier.

Lucentis sales might have been even higher if not for Avastin, which works by a similar mechanism. "There's no doubt there is substantial Avastin use in the marketplace both for AMD and other similar eye diseases," Mr. Clark said. Genentech doesn't plan to market Avastin as a treatment for AMD, but the National Institutes of Health will conduct a large trial comparing Avastin and Lucentis. The cost of Avastin when used for wet AMD is much lower than that for Lucentis.

Sales of Rituxan, used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, rose 11% to $582 million, while breast-cancer treatment Herceptin's sales rose 2.8%. Herceptin received expanded approval in November to include treatment of some women after they have undergone surgery.

[Mary Jo]

Great news. The arsenal is increasing. Thanks for sharing this news.

Mary Jo