The results coming from ASCO highlight the biotechnology industry’s important and extraordinary achievements on the road to providing cures for malignancies. Comparisons and assessments of the oncology drugs will be made after the convention ends. At that time, data can be carefully and thoroughly analyzed and the opinions of top oncologists heard. Here is some news.

LUNG CANCER

AVASTIN: In the U.S., Avastin is used in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel. Studies have confirmed its usefulness in this protocol time and time again. A Phase 3 lung cancer study of low and high doses of Avastin combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine, the most-used chemotherapy for lung cancer in Europe, demonstrate equal efficacy and lower toxicity at the low dose.

The equal efficacy of low-dose Avastin compared with the high dose protocol is a plus, as Avastin is used in a combination treatment with significant side effects, such that oncologists would not dare to add to them. These trial results will definitely encourage overseas oncologists to add Genentech’s Avastin to their treatment regimens. We do not believe that because using the low dose is cheaper, it will negatively impact the revenues of Avastin. The increased used of this biological antiangiogenic drug will certainly compensate for the reduced cost of the lower dose.
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