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In the Interests of Patients, Roche Will Consider all Options Following CHMP Opinion on Tarceva in Pancreatic Cancer

BASEL, Switzerland, July 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Roche announced

today that its cancer medicine Tarceva (erlotinib) has received a negative

opinion from the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use

(CHMP) for use in combination with gemcitabine chemotherapy for the first

line treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer, a cancer with an extremely

high fatality rate[1]. Roche is confident in the trial data which has shown

that the Tarceva combination treatment significantly increases patient

survival. In the interest of the patients, Roche will now consider all

options following this decision, including requesting a re-examination of

this decision.

Tarceva has already been approved by the American Food and Drug

Administration in November 2005 for the first-line treatment of patients

with locally advanced, unresectable or metastatic pancreatic cancer in

combination with gemcitabine chemotherapy. Both the US and the EU

application are based on data from the Phase III study (PA3)[2] which

showed that treatment with Tarceva plus gemcitabine results in

significantly longer survival compared to gemcitabine alone (22%). In

addition, 24% of patients receiving Tarceva plus gemcitabine were alive

after one year, compared to 19% on gemcitabine alone.

"Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer and it

kills more people within the first year of diagnosis than any other

cancer," said Eduard Holdener, Head of Global Drug Development. "Given such

a poor outlook, even modest improvements in survival are valuable to

advanced stage patients."

Despite significant advances in the treatment of many other tumours,

the five year survival rate for men and women diagnosed with pancreatic

cancer has not changed in decades.1 Treatment options for patients are

extremely limited and Tarceva is the first treatment for many years to have

shown a significant survival benefit in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Roche and its partners are committed to realising the potential of

Tarceva in treating pancreatic cancer through its extensive clinical trial

programme, including a Roche-sponsored randomised, double blind, placebo

controlled study of gemcitabine and Tarceva+/- Avastin in patients with

metastatic pancreatic cancer (AVITA or BO17706). Tarceva is approved and

marketed in the US and across the European Union for patients with locally

advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after failure of

at least one prior chemotherapy regimen.

A variation application was submitted to the European Health

Authorities in October 2005 for Tarceva plus gemcitabine chemotherapy for

the first-line treatment of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. In

April 2006, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. filed a New Drug Application

(NDA) with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for

Tarceva in patients with advanced or recurrent NSCLC.

About the PA3 study[2]

The pivotal Phase III randomised study (PA3)[2] of 569 patients was

conducted by the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group

based at Queen's University. The double blind study evaluated Tarceva's

efficacy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The results of PA32 demonstrated the following:

- Treatment with Tarceva plus gemcitabine in patients with advanced

pancreatic cancer resulted in significantly longer survival compared to

gemcitabine alone (22%)

- 24% of patients receiving Tarceva plus gemcitabine were alive after

one year, compared to 19% on gemcitabine alone

- Patients receiving Tarceva plus gemcitabine experienced significantly

longer progression-free survival of 30%

- Tarceva plus gemcitabine was well tolerated by patients with no

increase in haematological toxicity; as expected rash and diarrhoea were

the principal Tarceva-related side effects seen in the study and were

generally characterised as mild-to-moderate

- Tarceva plus gemcitabine reported a safety profile generally

consistent with that seen in other studies both monotherapy and combination

settings

About pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most frequently occurring cancer in

Europe[3] The main risk factors for pancreatic cancer include advanced age,

cigarette smoking, a high-fat diet, diabetes mellitus, chronic inflammation

of the pancreas (pancreatitis), especially hereditary pancreatitis, and a

family history of pancreatic cancer[4]. The symptoms vary depending upon

where the tumour is in the pancreas. The major symptoms are weight loss,

abdominal pain and jaundice[1]. The disease is rapidly fatal and attempts

to improve survival over the past 10 years have been unsuccessful.

About Tarceva

Tarceva (erlotinib) is an investigational small molecule that targets

the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER1) pathway. HER1, also known

as EGFR, is a key component of this signalling pathway, which plays a role

in the formation and growth of numerous cancers. Tarceva blocks tumour cell

growth by inhibiting the tyrosine kinase activity of the HER1 signalling

pathway inside the cell.

Taken as an oral, once-daily therapy, Tarceva is the only

EGFR-inhibitor to have demonstrated a survival benefit in lung cancer - a

striking 42.5%. Currently most lung cancer patients are treated with

chemotherapy which can be very debilitating due to its toxic nature.

Tarceva works differently to chemotherapy by specifically targeting tumour

cells, and avoids the typical side-effects of chemotherapy.

Tarceva is approved in the US and across the EU for patients with

locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after

failure of at least one prior chemotherapy regimen.

Tarceva has been approved by the FDA since November 2, 2005 for

treatment of locally advanced, unresectable or metastatic pancreatic cancer

in combination with gemcitabine chemotherapy.

Tarceva is currently being evaluated in an extensive clinical

development programme by a global alliance among OSI Pharmaceuticals,

Genentech, and Roche, focussing on earlier stages of NSCLC. Additionally,

Tarceva is being studied in combination with Avastin in NSCLC. Trials are

also being conducted with Tarceva in other solid tumours, such as ovarian,

bronchioloalveolar (BAC), colorectal, pancreatic, head and neck and glioma

(brain).

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's

leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals

and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the

early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group

contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and

quality of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the leading

supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in

virology. In 2005 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 27.3

billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.2

billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 70,000 people in 150 countries

and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners,

including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Additional

information about the Roche Group is available on the Internet

(http://www.roche.com).

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

For further information about:

- Cancer: http://www.health-kiosk.ch

- Roche in Oncology:

http://www.roche.com/pages/downloads/co ... y05e_b.pdf

- Genentech: http://www.gene.com

- OSI Pharmaceuticals: http://www.osip.com

References:

1. Steward, B W and Kleihues, P. 2003. World Cancer Report. World

Health Organisation and the International Agency for Research on Cancer,

IARC Press/Lyon, p248

2. Moore MJ, Goldstein D, Hamm J, et al. Erlotinib plus gemcitabine

compared to gemcitabine alone in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

A Phase III trial of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical

Trials Group [NCIC-CTG]. (Abstract #1, ASCO 2005)

3. De Braud F, Cascinu S, Gatta G. 2004, May. Cancer of Pancreas.

Critical reviews in oncology/hematology, 50(2):147-55

4. Truninger K (ed). 2002, Aug. Risk groups for pancreatic and bile

duct carcinomas. Schweizerische Rundschau fur Medizin Praxis, 17;89

(33):1299-304

Posted

Thanks for this info, Randy! I know I was suprised to hear the word Tarceva, which I was familiar with because of this board, when my friend Bob was getting treatments for his Pan. cancer.

This is another cancer that desperately needs some breakthroughs.

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