The deal allows Amgen to regain rights to its cancer drug Vectibix in Brazil.
Amgen has published a big study showing that its Vectibix only works in patients with normal kras.
The colon cancer Vectibix did not improve survival in head-and-neck cancer, maker Amgen announced this morning.
Few gene-testing studies yield the sort of clear-cut results seen in the case of kras, Erbitux and Vectibix.
They did gene testing on tumors from 113 colon patients who had previously taken either Erbitux or Vectibix.
Amgen developed a copycat to Erbitux, called Vectibix, and priced it significantly lower.
Similar findings have been reported for Amgen 's (nasdaq: AMGN - news - people ) rival drug Vectibix.
Erbitux and Vectibix are antibodies that bind to receptors on the cell surface called EGF and blocks signals that turn kras on.
In Europe, Vectibix is only approved for patients who have normal kras.
According to clinicaltrials.gov, there are still two ongoing studies of Vectibix in head-and-neck cancer that could be used as part of an approval.
Diagnostic tests to predict who will benefit have emerged for other expensive drugs, including Eli Lilly's Erbitux and Amgen's Vectibix, but not for Avastin.
Just this week, Italian researchers pinpointed another gene mutation present in about 10% of colon cancer patients that appears to render Erbitux and Vectibix ineffective.
The result is disappointing because Vectibix is similar to Erbitux, a drug sold by Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb that is approved for use in head-and-neck cancer.
But Vectibix has had trouble getting traction, while Erbitux is a blockbuster, in part because Vectibix is not approved to be used in combination with chemotherapy like Erbitux.
All patients recieved standard chemotherapy, and half got Vectibix.
应用推荐