US oncologists' perceptions of Roche's Perjeta very promising

Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: SIX) and subsidiary Genentech’s Perjeta (pertuzumab), which has been available in the USA for one month has a positive initial perception by medical oncologists, according to the findings of BioTrends Research, a Decision Resources company. Perjeta is a first-in-class HER-dimerization inhibitor that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in the summer (The Pharma Letter June 11, 2012.

Perjeta is indicated in the first-line setting for metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in combination with Roche/Genentech’s Herceptin (trastuzumab) and docetaxel. Medical oncologists report that the Perjeta regimen has efficacy advantages over other commonly used regimens on measures of progression free survival and potential overall survival data (clinical study not completed).

“Medical oncologists that were interviewed as part of this study pointed out that the increase in median progression free survival of over six months is a significant advance in the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer,” said BioTrends oncology therapeutic director Dan Winkelman, adding: “This type of advancement in the treatment of breast cancer has not been seen since Herceptin was launched over a decade ago.”