The breast cancer drug, Avastin, has a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration to be pulled. Breast cancer may not even be affected by the drug as was shown in a second trial on the drug. The FDA hasn’t explained whether the drug can be pulled or not year. If the drug loses its approval from the FDA, the manufacturers, Roche, might lose quite a bit.
Selling all over is Avastin
Avastin is the trade name of Bevacizumab, a cancer medication. Blood vessels no longer grow with what can also be called an angiogenesis inhibitor. Blood vessels can’t grow anymore after it stops the hormone that stimulates growth, called vascular endothelial. The Los Angeles Times, reports that the drug was approved in 2008 by the FDA as long as more studies were done to prove it works. Roche and its subsidiary Genentech, which makes the drug, have failed to prove in a second round of trials that Avastin is surely effective in eliminating or stopping breast cancer. The drug sells about $ 6 billion worth annually, and up to $ 1 billion of that is for breast cancer patients.
Roche feels the stab
The company that owns Genentech, Roche Holding Inc., dropped 4.1 percent in market shares after the FDA panel recommended pulling the approval to market the drug as a breast cancer treatment, according to Market Watch. There was also a lawsuit recently against another drug the company makes called Accutane which treats acne. Even if it doesn’t help breast cancer specifically, it has helped numerous other cancers.
Drug not going to end
Things like cancer have a hard time finding medications to help them. A cure for cancer could possibly be in the distant future. If the FDA does pull its approval of Avastin being marketed for breast cancer treatments, it may lead to selling fewer pills, but that’s over it.
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Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-avastin-breast-cancer,0,2730048.story
Market Watch
marketwatch.com/story/roche-shares-drop-after-fda-ruling-on-avastin-2010-07-21
Bevacizumab
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevacizumab
