Roche wraps week with a bang, touting long-term breast cancer, AMD data

Published: Jul 15, 2022

By Vanessa Doctor, RN

BioSpace

Roche has had a good week, sharing positive two-year data from Genentech’s study on Vabysmo for age-related macular degeneration and eight-year data in its trial for combination therapy for HER2-positive early breast cancer.

2-Year Data On Vabysmo Demonstrates Reliability & Safety

Genentech, a part of the Roche Group, shared positive two years’ worth of data from its ongoing LUCERNE and TENAYA trials, which are looking into Vabysmo’s (faricimab-svoa) long-term safety, efficacy and durability in wet or neovascular AMD.

In both the TENAYA and LUCERNE studies, over 60% of the participants were able to be treated every four months, up 15% from where they were in the first year. Almost 80% were able to treat at least every three months. No new safety signals came up, and the drug continued to be well tolerated and demonstrate a favorable risk profile.

“These longer-term results reinforce confidence in Vabysmo and support its continued use in people with wet AMD. With the potential to require fewer injections over time, Vabysmo continues to represent an important step forward for people with vision-threatening retinal conditions, and these data exemplify our commitment to redefining standards of care and reducing treatment burden,” Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer and head of global product development at Genentech, said in a statement.

The disorder, a leading cause of vision loss, affects around 1.1 million people in the United States alone. Treatment usually involves eye injections administered every one or two months. Vabysmo is evaluated for its potential to reduce the frequency of injections.

Vabysmo is the first bispecific antibody for the eye and the only injectable eye medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is currently under review by the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory agencies worldwide.

Combination Breast Cancer Therapy Delivers Positive 8-Year Data

Meanwhile, Roche announced positive eight-year data from its long-term evaluation of Perjeta (pertuzumab) combined with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy (Perjeta-based) in HER2-positive early breast cancer, versus Herceptin, chemotherapy and a placebo.

Results at 8.4 years, with a median follow-up of 101 months, showed that patients with lymph node-positive disease saw a 28% reduction in the risk of recurrence or death. The combination’s safety profile also remained consistent with previous trials. There were fewer deaths at 168 versus 202 in the placebo group, and around 88.4% of those who received the treatment post-surgery had remained disease-free compared to the 85.8% of the placebo takers.

“The eight-year APHINITY results show the great progress made in treating this aggressive form of early breast cancer. HER2-positive breast cancers are more likely than other subtypes to recur following surgery, so targeted treatment is critical to provide the best chance for a cure,” Garraway said, who is also Roche’s chief medical officer and head of global product development.

Details were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual Plenary.

Source: BioSpace