Roche hopes Kadcyla will replace revenue lost by Herceptin patent expiry

Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: SIX) could be hit by biosimilar versions of its breakthrough HER2-positive breast cancer drug Herceptin  (trastuzumab)  which are expected to come to market in 2016, according to independent analysis firm Datamonitor Healthcare.

But the analysts say that Roche will hope that the growing success of its antibody-drug conjugate, Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), will help the company mitigate this drop in revenue, and allow Roche to maintain its dominance of the HER2-positive breast cancer market.

The launch of Roche’s Herceptin in 1998 was deemed to be a major breakthrough for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, who until this time had few alternative treatment options to combat the aggressive disease. Since its launch, Herceptin has gained massive uptake in the HER2-positive breast cancer market, with 85% of Stage IV patients in the first-line setting receiving a treatment regimen incorporating Herceptin. It has also become a blockbuster earner for Roche, generating first-half 2013 sales of 3.08 billion Swiss francs ($3.31 billion; The Pharma Letter July 25).