Bayer's Stivarga improves liver cancer survival rates, trial shows

German pharma beacon Bayer (BAYN: DE) has announced that a Phase III trial of its Stivarga (regorafenib) for unresectable liver cancer has met its primary endpoint of improving overall survival.

The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of regorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) whose disease has progressed after treatment with sorafenib, which is marketed by Bayer as Nexavar.

Joerg Moeller, Bayer’s head of development, said: “Effective treatment options are urgently needed for patients with liver cancer. With sorafenib having been a major advance in the treatment of unresectable HCC, regorafenib could now become the second proven systemic option for the treatment of liver cancer.”