U.S. to Compare Erbitux With Avastin

ImClone Systems Inc.’s Erbitux and Genentech Inc.’s Avastin medicines will be tested in a U.S. government-sponsored study comparing treatments for newly diagnosed colon cancer patients.

Researchers scrapped an earlier study of chemotherapy and Erbitux because doctors were reluctant to use ImClone’s drug instead of Avastin, which won approval after the Erbitux trial was designed. The new study will begin this year, Alan Venook, the doctor who is leading the research, said Friday.

ImClone and partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. are trying to broaden Erbitux use by showing the drug helps newly diagnosed colon cancer patients, for whom the standard treatment is Avastin. Wider use may push yearly Erbitux sales to more than $1 billion, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst David Witzke said.

Shares of New York-based ImClone declined 14 cents to $41.16 on Nasdaq. Shares of Bristol-Myers, also based in New York, gained 3 cents to $24.43 and South San Francisco-based Genentech climbed 34 cents to $50.10, both on the New York Stock Exchange.

Patients in the new study will be divided into three groups, said Venook, a professor at UC San Francisco. People will receive Avastin, Erbitux or both drugs, he said. All patients will also receive chemotherapy.

It will probably take about four years before results of the test are available, Venook said. Researchers haven’t determined the number of patients who will participate in the study.

Avastin and Erbitux belong to a class of cancer drugs known as targeted cancer therapies, which home in on abnormalities unique to cancer cells. That spares healthy tissue and translates into fewer side effects, researchers say.

Both drugs won Food and Drug Administration clearance in February. Avastin is approved for newly diagnosed patients; Erbitux is cleared only as a last-ditch treatment for people who aren’t helped by other medicines.