Puma could profit from Perjeta data

Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) presented data showing that fewer patients with HER2-positive breast cancer see their disease return after adding Perjeta (pertuzumab) to Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy at ASCO 2017 on Monday.

But in truth the main beneficiary was arguably Puma Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PBYI), a US company which has a rival therapy.

Roche’s data from the APHINITY trial showed that, from the intent-to-treat population of 4,804 patients at three years, an invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) of 94.1% was observed among those treated with Perjeta, Herceptin and chemotherapy, compared to 93.2% in the Herceptin and chemotherapy alone group.