Roche and Genentech, Inc., jointly announced that Avastin (bevacizumab, rhuMAb-VEGF), the innovative and groundbreaking anti-angiogenesis drug, significantly improves survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of lung cancer. This is in addition to the positive results on colorectal cancer reported over the last two years.

Avastin is a unique cancer drug that works by choking off the blood supply that is essential for the growth of the tumour and its spread throughout the body. The trial investigated the use of Avastin in patients who had not received any previous treatment - 'first line'. The interim analysis of the Phase III study investigating Avastin in combination with a platinum-based chemotherapy (paclitaxel and carboplatin) met its primary efficacy endpoint of improving overall survival, or a reduction in the risk of death, compared to chemotherapy alone. The study will now be stopped since it reached its pre-specified efficacy endpoint early, the release states.

"To observe an improvement in survival in this study is remarkable, particularly as it is the first time in years that a study has shown an increase in survival for people with NSCLC in the first-line setting," said William M. Burns, CEO of Roche's Pharmaceutical Division. "These results are extremely important and we plan to share the data with the regulatory authorities in order to discuss the next steps for registering Avastin for first-line treatment of NSCLC," he added.

This is the first Phase III study to evaluate Avastin in combination with chemotherapy in NSCLC.