A study has found that Treanda, a cancer drug of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), worked better than a standard therapy to slow the growth of immune system tumors, and had fewer side effects, according to results released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. Patients given Treanda and Roche Holding AG's (SWX: ROG) Rituxan lived more than three years longer without their tumors progressing compared with patients who received chemotherapy with Rituxan.
The study included 514 patients with slow-growing lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma who had not been treated with other drugs. It found no difference in survival between patients taking Treanda or the standard regimen. Treanda plus Rituxan delayed tumor progression by about 70 months in patients compared with 31 months in patients taking a placebo with chemotherapy and Rituxan. Patients taking Treanda had less hair loss and infections.
“This should likely become the new standard of care for these individuals,” said Bruce Roth, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. “It is remarkable to have an agent that provides superior efficacy and less toxicity."
The finding may boost sales of Treanda, which are projected to increase five-fold to $670 million next year, the average of eight analyst estimates compiled by "Bloomberg". Teva says that Treanda had $500 million in sales in 2011.
Teva gained Treanda through its $6.8 billion purchase of Cephalon in 2011. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Treanda in March 2008 for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a cancer of the marrow, where blood cells are made. The FDA approved the drug as a back-up therapy for patients with the slow- growing form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2008.
Teva's share price fell 0.1% by early afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 152.60, after closing at $39.01 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, giving a market cap of $34 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 4, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012