Genentech Seeks New Use for Avastin

Genentech (DNA Quote) said Monday it will ask U.S. regulators to approve its cancer drug Avastin for a new use, this time in fighting an aggressive type of brain tumor.

The company hopes to get Avastin cleared as a second-line therapy for treating glioblastoma, the most common type of brain cancer. Second-line therapies are used with patients for whom a prior treatment has been ultimately unsuccessful.

Genentech said roughly 19,000 new cases of glioblastoma are diagnosed in the U.S. every year. "Following initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, more than 90% of people with glioblastoma will see their cancer return, and there are few effective treatments when the initial therapy stops working," Genentech wrote in a press release.

The company said that, according to historical estimates, the median survival of patients with previously treated glioblastoma is typically three to six months.

"There has been no substantial improvement in the treatment of glioblastoma in more than 20 years," said Genentech's chief medical officer, Hal Barron. "This is a devastating disease, and people with glioblastoma desperately need new treatment options."

In a phase II study, 43% of previously treated patients who were given Avastin alone lived six months without their tumors advancing. According to the results, which were released earlier this year, previously treated patients given Avastin had a median overall survival of 9.3 months, and 28% of patients saw their tumors decrease in size by half.

Genentech is submitting those data, as well as other findings that combined Avastin with chemo, in its application. If accepted, Genentech said its application would be considered for a shortened, six-month review process that's granted for medicines for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.