Roche's atezolizumab hits goal of shrinking tumors in NSCLC patients

Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) and its subsidiary Genentech today announced that, in the large pivotal Phase II study, BIRCH, the investigational cancer immunotherapy atezolizumab (MPDL3280A; anti-PD-L1) met its primary endpoint and shrank tumors (objective response rate; ORR) in people with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease expressed PDL1 (Programmed Death Ligand-1).

The study showed the amount of PD-L1 expressed by a person’s cancer correlated with their response to the medicine. Adverse events were consistent with what has been previously observed for atezolizumab.

“We are encouraged by the number of people who responded to atezolizumab and maintained their response during the study, which is particularly meaningful for people who had received several prior treatments,” said Sandra Horning, chief medical officer and head of global product development.