EU agency recommends Roche drug for type of ovarian cancer

[June 27, 2014]  ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche said on Friday that European regulators had recommended approval of its drug Avastin as a treatment for women with ovarian cancer that is resistant to platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Recommendations for marketing approval by the European Medicine Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) are normally endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months.

Avastin, which is already approved in Europe to treat advanced stages of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, kidney cancer and ovarian cancer, was Roche's biggest seller last year with sales of 6.25 billion Swiss francs ($7 billion).

($1 = 0.8946 Swiss Francs)

(Reporting by Caroline Copley)

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