CHMP recommends Avastin + chemotherapy for resistant Ovarian Cancer- Roche

Roche has announced that the EU Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended that the European Commission approve the use of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy as a treatment for women with Ovarian Cancer that is resistant to platinum-containing chemotherapy. Ovarian Cancer has the highest mortality rate of all gynaecological cancers. Of the 230,000 women diagnosed worldwide each year many will have advanced disease that will return after initial treatment.

The new EU filing was based on results of the phase III AURELIA study which involved women with recurrent, platinum-resistant Ovarian Cancer who received either chemotherapy (weekly paclitaxel, topotecan or pegylated liposomal doxorubicin) or Avastin added to chemotherapy. Results showed that at a median follow-up of 13 months for women who had received chemotherapy alone and 13.9 months for those who had received the combination, the addition of Avastin to chemotherapy gave a clinically meaningful benefit, nearly doubling the median PFS from 3.4 months to 6.7 months (HR=0.38, p<0.0001).>