Roche's (RHHBY) Tecentriq Combo Succeeds In Melanoma Study

Roche (OTC:RHHBY) announced that the late-stage study on immuno-oncology drug, Tecentriq (atezolizumab), in combination with Cotellic (cobimetinib) and Zelboraf (vemurafenib) was successful in skin cancer patients.

The phase III IMspire150 study compared the efficacy and safety of Tecentriq plus Cotellic and Zelboraf to the combination of placebo plus Cotellic and Zelboraf in patients with previously untreated BRAF V600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma.

The study met its primary endpoint of progression free survival. Results from the study showed that the addition of Tecentriq to Cotellic and Zelboraf helped in the reduction of the risk of disease worsening or death compared to placebo plus Cotellic and Zelboraf.

The safety profile observed in IMspire150 was consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual drugs.

Tecentriq is approved in the United States, EU and other countries, either alone or in combination with targeted therapies and/or chemotherapies in various forms of non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, certain types of metastatic urothelial cancer, and in PD-L1-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The potential label expansion in additional indications will boost sales of the drug, which came in at CHF 1.3 billion in the first nine months of 2019.

Exelixis’ (NASDAQ:EXEL) Cotellic, in combination with Zelboraf, is already approved in the United States and Europe for the treatment of people with melanoma that has spread to other parts of the body or cannot be removed by surgery and has a BRAF V600 mutation.

Meanwhile, Roche has an extensive development program for Tecentriq as a monotherapy or in combination with other drugs. These include multiple phase III studies underway across different types of lung cancer, and multiple ongoing and planned phase III studies in genitourinary, skin, breast, gastrointestinal, gynecological, and head and neck cancers.

Last week, the drug was approved in combination with chemotherapy (Abraxane [paclitaxel protein-bound; nab-paclitaxel] and carboplatin) for the initial (first-line) treatment of adults with metastatic, non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Immuno-oncology therapies like Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) Keytruda and Bristol-Myers’ (NYSE:BMY) Opdivo are approved for various types of skin cancer.

Shares of Roche have rallied 23.7% so far this year compared with the industry’s growth of 8.9%.

Roche has one of the strongest oncology portfolios. The company’s efforts to develop the portfolio beyond oncology have been impressive as well.

Roche currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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