Genentech's Avastin misses Ph III endpoint

US biotechnology giant Genentech and Swiss drug major Roche say that their anticancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) failed to improve survival of advanced pancreatic cancer patients. The agent, which was being evaluated in combination with gemcitabine chemotherapy as first-line treatment, missed the primary endpoint of overall survival.

According to San Francisco-based Genentech, the randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which enrolled 602 patients across 200 test sites, was stopped at the recommendation of an independent data monitoring board based on an interim analysis and the firm stressed it was not terminated due to safety concerns.

Hal Barron, Genentech's chief medical officer, said: "we are disappointed," adding that the company will evaluate the data to understand why Avastin, which is a therapeutic antibody designed to inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor, did not show any clinical benefit in this indication.