GUSTO III: Activase Fends Off Retevase Challenge

Genentech has ridden through a competitive challenge from BoehringerMannheim in the lucrative thrombolysis market. The results of the GUSTO III study failed to show that BM's Rapilysin/Retevase (reteplase; r-PA) was superior to Genentech's Activase (alteplase; t-PA) in reducing mortality after acute myocardial infarction.

The results of GUSTO III were reported at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Anaheim, California, on March 17. Eric Topol of the Cleveland Clinic in the USA, who chaired the study, said that there was clearly no suggestion from the data that reteplase was superior to alteplase, but the two drugs were similar. "The 30-day results showed no statistically significant difference, with a 0.2% absolute mortality difference favoring t-PA," he commented.

David Stump, Genentech's vice president of clinical research, said that the primary hypothesis of the GUSTO III trial was to see if r-PA was superior. "Since this primary hypothesis was not proven, Activase remains a standard of care in the management of AMI," he noted, adding "we believe there is no reason for physicians to change their prescribing habits."