Tecentriq fails endpoint in Phase III bladder cancer trial

The Phase III IMvigor211 study that evaluated Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in people with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC; bladder cancer) whose disease progressed during or after treatment with a platinum-based chemotherapy (previously treated) did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) compared to chemotherapy.

However, the drug’s developer, Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX), says that the safety profile observed in IMvigor211 was consistent with what has been previously observed for Tecentriq, which already has approval for bladder and lung cancer, and generated sales of 113 million Swiss francs ($112.3 million) in the first quarter of this year.

“While these results are not what we had expected, we believe that Tecentriq will continue to play an important role in the treatment of people with advanced bladder cancer,” said Sandra Horning, chief medical officer and head of global product development, noting that these data will be discussed with health authorities.