Avastin which is a breast cancer drug might be pulled by a committee on the Food and Drug Administration. The first clinical trial of the drug showed positive results although one more round of testing shows no effect on breast cancer. . Should the marketing approval be pulled by the FDA, the manufacturer of the drug, Roche, stands to lose a lot.
Avastin cancer drug sells a lot
Bevacizumab, a cancer medication has the trade name Avastin. It’s called an angiogenesis inhibitor, which means it prohibits the growth of new blood vessels. Blood vessels can’t grow anymore after it stops the hormone that stimulates growth, called vascular endothelial. After being required to continue studies to prove effectiveness of the drug, the FDA approved the drug in 2008, Los Angeles Times, reports. Roche and its subsidiary Genentech, which makes the drug, have failed to prove in a second round of trials that Avastin is certainly effective in eliminating or stopping breast cancer. The drug sells about $ 6 billion worth annually, and up to $ 1 billion of that is for breast cancer patients.
Losses in Roche business
Market Watch reports that Genentech, Roche Holding Inc., dropped 4.1 percent in the stock market following the recommendation came from the FDA group. Accutane , a medication used to treat acne manufactured by the company, has just had a significant lawsuit against it as well. Regardless of whether the drug won’t be used to treat breast cancer patients, it has proven very promising for treating other cancers.
Just the beginning
Things like cancer have a hard time finding medications to help them. It could be a long time before any miracle cancer cure is made. If the FDA does pull its approval of Avastin being marketed for breast cancer treatments, it may lead to selling fewer pills, but that’s about this.
Citations
Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-avastin-breast-cancer,0,2730048.story
Market Watch
marketwatch.com/story/roche-shares-drop-after-fda-ruling-on-avastin-2010-07-21
Bevacizumab
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevacizumab
