Roche announced that new results from studies with its approved or investigational medicines across more than 20 cancer types will be presented during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress from 7 – 11 October 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark. These include the first pivotal phase III results for Tecentriq, outcomes from early studies of cancer immunotherapy-based combinations, results from clinical studies with a broad range of Roche’s investigational medicines, and new insights from studies that continue to shape a better understanding of how different types of cancer develop and affect people around the world.
“At Roche, our focus on understanding human immunology and cancer biology is helping us to develop new medicines that improve outcomes for people with cancer,” said Sandra Horning, M.D., Roche’s chief medical officer and head of global product development. “We look forward to the presentation of the pivotal OAK data for Tecentriq during ESMO’s Presidential Symposium, as well as other presentations such as new data from our collaboration with Foundation Medicine that showcase how we are expanding our understanding of each individual’s cancer.”
At ESMO, positive results from the Tecentriq phase III lung cancer study known as OAK will be presented as a “late-breaking” abstract in the ESMO Presidential Symposium 2 on 9 October. Roche recently announced that the study met its co-primary endpoints and showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) compared with docetaxel chemotherapy in people with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed on or after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy. In the United States, Roche’s Biologics License Application (BLA) for Tecentriq in NSCLC was granted Priority Review with an action date of 19 October 2016.
In addition to OAK, 19 Roche cancer immunotherapy abstracts featuring Tecentriq and other innovative molecules will be presented. This includes early data assessing Tecentriq in an investigational combination with the approved, targeted Roche medicines Zelboraf (vemurafenib) and Cotellic (cobimetinib) in melanoma, and as a novel investigational combination with Cotellic in colorectal cancer.