Eli Lilly and Company will unveil data from 57 studies at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, Illinois from June 4 to 8, 2010, during which the company will present the latest research results on Alimta (pemetrexed for injection) and Gemzar (gemcitabine HCl for injection), as well as Erbitux (cetuximab) with partners Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck-Serono.

Of note are two phase-II Alimta studies (ASCO Abstracts #7082 and #7087), which both evaluate Alimta plus platinum-based chemotherapy in combination with concurrent radiation therapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several studies evaluating Gemzar in combination with other potential therapies are also slated for presentation at the meeting.

"Lilly Oncology research teams around the world are committed to finding new ways to improve and prolong the lives of people living with cancer," said John H Johnson, president of Lilly Oncology. "We are constantly studying new uses for our established therapies and discovering new molecules - all in the hopes of changing the way we treat cancer."

In addition to studies on marketed Lilly Oncology products, new data will also be presented at ASCO on several Lilly Oncology molecules in clinical development, namely tasisulam (an anti-cancer agent), and ImClone's ramucirumab and cixutumumab (both are IgG1 monoclonal antibodies).

Alimta is approved by the US FDA in combination with cisplatin (another chemotherapy drug) for the initial treatment of advanced nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a specific type of NSCLC. Alimta is not indicated for patients who have a different type of NSCLC called squamous cell.

Gemzar is approved by the US FDA in combination with cisplatin (another type of chemotherapy) for the first-line treatment of patients (for whom surgery is not possible) with locally advanced (stage IIIA or stage IIIB) or metastatic (stage IV or cancer that has spread) non-small cell lung cancer.

Erbitux, as a single agent, is indicated for the treatment of EGFR-expressing metastatic colorectal cancer after failure of both irinotecan- and oxaliplatin-based regimens.