DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) said a late-phase trial of cancer
drug Erbitux when combined with Folfiri extended median overall
survival of metastatic colorectal cancer patients, compared to just
the Pfizer Inc. (PFE) cancer therapy.
The results were presented Wednesday at the European Society for
Medical Oncology Congress in Berlin. The study was conducted by the
Medical Research Council in the U.K. In a separate study, also
released Wednesday, Erbitux combined with standard chemotherapy
showed no overall improvement in survival rates among colon cancer
patients.
The median survival of patients receiving the combination of
Erbitux and Folfiri increased to 19.9 months compared with 18.6
months for Folfiri alone. In a subset of patients with wild-type
K-ras tumors, the median survival rose to 23.5 months, compared
with 20 months for those taking just Folfiri.
The data update results published in the April issue of the New
England Journal of Medicine.
ImClone Systems' Erbitux is commercialized by Bristol-Myers in
the U.S. and Canada and Merck KGaA (G.MRK) of Germany
elsewhere.
Bristol-Myers' shares were up 12 cents premarket at $22.39.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481;
tess.stynes@dowjones.com