Eli Lilly's Alimta Shows Promise in Cancer Study

Eli Lilly's (LLY) Alimta significantly delays the time it takes for advanced non-small cell lung cancer to progress when given as a maintenance therapy, according to preliminary results of a late-stage study. These results will to be presented in conjunction with the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

The study looks specifically at Lilly's Alimta as a maintenance drug, given to patients three to six weeks after they complete induction chemotherapy. The drug, which competes with Genentech's (DNA) Avastin and Genentech and OSI Pharmaceutical's (OSIP) Tarceva, is already approved as a second-line treatment.

"This is the first study to show that lung cancer patients can benefit from maintenance therapy," said Tudor-Eliade Ciuleanu, associate professor at the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania and lead author of the study.

According to the study, progression-free survival (or the time that it takes the tumor to progress) was significantly longer in patients who received Alimta compared to those who received placebo, 4.3 months vs. 2.6 months, respectively.

Overall survival was 13 months for the Alimta group, vs. 10.2 months for the placebo group, but those results weren't statistically significant. However, final data from this trial aren't expected for another six to 12 months.

In a conference call Friday morning, Bear Stearns analyst Mark Schoenebaum noted that he would be surprised if the final data weren't statistically significant, because at this point only half of the patients have died so the study has little powering at this point.