July 21, 2010
An advisory panel of medical experts has told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it should no longer allow the cancer drug Avastin to be used to treat breast cancer.
The drug, manufactured by Roche, is currently used to treat other forms of cancer, including lung and colon cancer. That use is unaffected by the panel's recommendation.
Avastin currently contributes about $6 billion to Roche's bottom line, with about a billion dollars coming from sales for the treatment of breast cancer.
The FDA granted Roche's petition in 2008 to expand the uses of the drug to include breast cancer, but stipulated the drug maker had to perform additional studies. The panel concluded, by a vote of 12-1, that the studies indicated Avastin provided little or no value as a breast cancer treatment.
The FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its advisory panels, but it normally does. The FDA will make its decision by mid September.
