Tarceva extends PFS in advanced NSCLC

Biotechnology giant Genentech and fellow USA-based OSI Pharmaceuticals say that the global Phase III SATURN study met its primary endpoint and showed their drug Tarceva (erlotinib) significantly extended the time patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer lived without their cancer getting worse.

The agent was administered immediately following initial treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and no new or unexpected safety signals in the study and adverse events were consistent with those observed in previous NSCLC trials of Tarceva. The results are being fully analyzed and the data will be submitted for presentation at a future medical meeting. The two firms, together with Genentech's parent company Roche, will discuss next steps for a potential new indication for Tarceva with the US Food and Drug Administration and European regulators. Third-quarter 2008 sales of the lung cancer drug totaled $110.0 million, a 9% increase year-on-year.