The breast cancer drug, Avastin, has a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration to be pulled. Breast cancer may not even be affected by the drug as was shown in a second trial on the drug. The FDA hasn’t explained if the drug is going to be disapproved yet or not. Should the marketing approval be pulled by the FDA, the manufacturer of the drug, Roche, stands to lose a lot.
Selling all over is Avastin
Avastin is the name of Bevacizumab which is a cancer med. Blood vessels no longer grow with what can also be called an angiogenesis inhibitor. It works by stopping a hormone called vascular endothelial growth factor, which stimulates blood vessel growth. The Los Angeles Times, reports the drug was approved in 2008 by the FDA as long as more studies were done to prove it works. The drug was tested in a second round of trials by Roche and Genentech which manufacture the drug, and in this second round of testing, it was shown to have little result in helping cancer. About $ 6 billion of the drug is sold annually with about $ 1 billion straight from breast cancer patients.
Roche feels the stab
The company that owns Genentech, Roche Holding Inc., dropped 4.1 percent in market shares after the FDA panel recommended pulling the approval to market the drug as a breast cancer treatment, according to Market Watch. The drop in share value comes on the heels of a series of lawsuits concerning Accutane, an anti-acne medication the business produces. Regardless of whether the drug won’t be used to treat breast cancer patients, it has proven very promising for treating other cancers.
Drug will continue
Things like cancer have a hard time finding medications to help them. There may well one day be a cure for cancer, but it will take a long time. Even if the FDA no longer approves Avastin, it will nevertheless sell, just less.
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
