GENENTECH'S THIRD-QUARTER EARNINGS BOOSTED BY CANCER DRUG SALES
Rising demand for Genentech's two main cancer drugs Avastin and Herceptin
drove up the biotech firm's third-quarter earnings by more than 50 percent.
Sales of the firm's flagship product Avastin (bevacizumab) jumped 78 percent
during the quarter, increasing to $325.2 million from $183.0 million in the
same period of 2004. Although Avastin, which starves tumors by preventing the
growth of new blood vessels, is currently approved only to treat colon cancer,
Genentech said off-label demand for the drug is growing. Roughly 15 percent
of Avastin's third-quarter sales was attributed to uses outside of colon cancer,
the company said recently.
Avastin's market is likely to expand even further in the future, as Genentech
is working to expand the drug's indications. Recent trials have suggested Avastin
is effective against both lung and breast tumors, and Genentech said it plans
to file supplemental biologics license applications (sBLAs) with the FDA for
those uses during the first half of 2006. The company is also studying Avastin
as a potential treatment for metatastic ovarian cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.
Genentech also received a boost during the third quarter from its older cancer
drug, Herceptin (trastuzumab), which saw its sales rise 70 percent to $215.1
million from $126.3 million in last year's third quarter. Herceptin was boosted
by data from a large-scale clinical study that showed the drug can reduce the
risk of postsurgical cancer recurrence by approximately 50 percent. Genentech
is also looking to expand Herceptin's indication. The firm said it anticipates
filing a sBLA in the first quarter of 2006 for Herceptin in the adjuvant setting
based on data from U.S. studies.