Wyeth presents strong combo drug data at ASCO

Drug major Wyeth, which is in the process of being acquired by fellow USA-based giant Pfizer, has announced preliminary data from two ongoing  studies, one evaluating neratinib (HKI-272) in combination with  trastuzumab (Herceptin from Switzerland's Roche) in HER-2 positive  (ErbB-2 positive) breast cancer, and a separate study investigating  neratinib safety and efficacy when given with paclitaxel (Taxol from  Bristol-Myers Squibb) in patients with HER-2 dependent solid tumors. The  data gathered from both trials are scheduled to be presented at the 45th  annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando,  Florida. Neratinib is an investigational orally-administered  irreversible inhibitor of the HER-2 and EGFR kinases.

"The data gathered from these studies provide additional evidence  suggesting that neratinib, when combined with these therapies, is an  active agent in HER-2 positive breast cancer," says Ramona Swaby,  Department of Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia,  USA. "While improvements have been made in treating HER-2 positive  breast cancer, there remains an unmet medical need for more therapies  for patients with metastatic breast cancer. These data warrant ongoing  and future investigations to further understand and evaluate the utility  of neratinib against this aggressive disease," Dr Ramona added.