Roche granted EU approval for Perjeta; board appointments

The European Medicines Agency has approved Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG: SIX) Perjeta (pertuzumab) for patients with previously untreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The drug was approved in the USA last summer (The Pharma Letter June 11, 2012).

In Europe, Perjeta is approved in combination with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and docetaxel in adult patients with HER2-positive metastatic or locally recurrent unresectable breast cancer, who have not received previous anti-HER2 therapy or chemotherapy for their metastatic disease.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters have on average forecast annual global pertuzumab sales of $608 million by 2016 - though some say revenues could eventually climb beyond $1 billion.