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 The Basel-based health group said its immunotherapy Tecentriq had
made advances against lung cancer when mixed with other treatments,
and its hemophilia agent Hemlibra had reduced bleeds in a new group
of patients.
Roche's shares rose as much as 5.6 percent, adding roughly $11
billion to its market capitalization and making it the best
performer on the Swiss Market Index.
Shares in Shire, a rival in the hemophilia market, slipped as much
as 2 percent. AstraZeneca shares slipped 0.5 percent.
With lung cancer easily the largest oncology market, Roche's Impower
150 trial of Tecentriq, Avastin and chemotherapy has been closely
watched as the Swiss drugmaker seeks to catch rivals in cancer
immunotherapy.
Roche said the cocktail "provided a statistically significant and
clinically meaningful reduction" in the risk of disease worsening or
death compared to Avastin plus chemotherapy in first-line treatment
of advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
"We are extremely encouraged by these results and will submit these
data to health authorities globally with the goal of bringing a
potential new standard of care for the initial treatment of lung
cancer," said Sandra Horning, Roche's chief medical officer.
Roche, which will present the data at a conference in Geneva in
December, added initial observations for the Tecentriq combination's
impact on overall survival were "encouraging" and will be reported
in the first half of 2018.
In a separate Hemlibra study, Roche's new $482,000-per-year drug
reduced the risk of treated bleeds in patients who have not
developed resistance to standard therapy, compared to those
receiving no preventative treatment.
GAINING GROUND
Hemlibra's latest result comes after the medicine was approved last
week in the United States for patients with resistance to clotting
factors.
Roche said it would now work with regulators to expand the treatment
to all hemophilia sufferers.
"Roche has delivered a best case scenario with both Tecentriq's
Impower150 and Hemlibra's Haven 3 studies meeting their primary end
points," said Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford.
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Tecentriq and Hemlibra, along with multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus,
are pillars of Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan's plan to offset
declining sales of older medicines with new blockbusters.
So far, however, Tecentriq's sales - expected at around $500 million
this year - pale in comparison to better established agents Keytruda
from Merck and Opdivo from Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Keytruda, which analysts see reaching $3.7 billion in sales this
year, has an edge in lung cancer after U.S. approval as a first-line
treatment. Estimates for Opdivo foresee 2017 revenue rising nearly
four-fold to $4.8 billion.
Still, Monday's Impower 150 readout, while giving only bare details,
may help Roche make up ground, since results from Merck's and BMS's
own combination lung cancer trials are still some way off.
Merck in October delayed its Keytruda-and-chemotherapy combination
study while withdrawing a European application for first-line lung
cancer approval.
Meanwhile, BMS's lung cancer trial of Opdivo and another checkpoint
inhibitor, Yervoy, is not due to read out until next year.
AstraZeneca's similar immuno-oncology drug cocktail against lung
cancer failed earlier this year, raising concerns about the approach
as chemotherapy combinations like Roche's rack up trial wins.
(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields and Andrew
Heavens)
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