Friday, November 17, 2006

Genentech breast-cancer drug gets FDA OK

Shares of Genentech Inc. rose 77 cents Friday, a day after the Food and Drug Administration approved its Herceptin drug as part of a breast-cancer regimen.
South San Francisco-based Genentech said late Thursday the drug was OK'd for women with early-stage breast cancer who have had surgery, with or without radiation therapy.

The treatment is designed to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence or the occurrence of metastatic disease.

The FDA approval was based on data from an interim joint analysis of more than 3,500 patients enrolled in two third-phase clinical trials., which showed that the addition of Herceptin to standard adjuvant therapy significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence, Genentech said.

Remember that Herceptin is a humanized monoclonal antibody to the epidermal growth factor family member, Her2. It keeps the receptor from signaling.

In midday trading, shares were at $81.49 after closing the day before at $80.72.

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