By Jessica Hodgson
LONDON--A new drug from Bayer AG (BAYN.XE), Regorafenib, could
significantly increase the survival prospects of people with
gastrointestinal stromal tumor, new research published in U.K.
medical journal The Lancet Thursday indicates.
Survival rates for patients with metastatic bowel cancer were
also improved by taking the drug, the research suggested, though
not as significantly.
The research--the result of two separate trials--could boost the
prospects of the drug, which Bayer has identified as one of its
most significant new pipeline products.
In one trial, at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard
Medical School in Boston, patients with gastrointestinal stromal
tumor which was worsening were shown to have a progression-free
survival time of 4.8 months after receiving a daily dose of 160mg,
compared with just under a month for the placebo patients.
In a separate trial at hospitals in Belgium and Rochester,
Minn., in the U.S., patients receiving a 160mg doses of the drug
were shown to have a survival rate of 6.4 months, compared with 5
months for patients receiving a placebo.
In a comment piece in The Lancet, Professor David Cunningham and
Dr Tom Waddell, of the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, U.K., said
"the case for routine use of this drug in patients who have failed
[other therapies] is strong."
Regorafenib--also known as Stivarga--is developed by Bayer and
is jointly promoted by Bayer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX)
in the United States.
The U.S. Food and Drug Agency earlier this year approved the
drug for treatment of patients with metastatic bowel cancer who
hadn't responded to other drugs. It has given priority review
status--an accelerated review timetable--to Regorafenib for use in
patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor.
Bayer said earlier this year Regorafenib was one of five key
drugs it saw fuelling a peak annual sales potential of 5.5 billion
euros ($7.03 billion).
Write to Jessica Hodgson jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com
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