Genentech Investors Monitor Avastin Study

Now that Genentech (DNA Quote) has a strong third-quarter earnings report behind it, investors are turning their attention to a possible buyout by Swiss drugmaker Roche and a large clinical trial of cancer treatment Avastin that could add billions of dollars in sales to the drug's already blockbuster status.

Several interim analyses of the phase III study, which is testing Avastin as an adjuvant therapy in patients with colon cancer, have been conducted already. None have resulted in strong enough data to stop the study.

The next scheduled examination of the data will occur this quarter, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Genentech's president of product development, said Tuesday. At that point, Genentech will determine whether to release the results or indicate instead that the trial will proceed. ...