Roche's Gazyva slows disease worsening compared to MabThera/Rituxan

Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: SIX) has announced new data from the second stage of the CLL11 Phase III study which compared Gazyva (obinutuzumab), also known as GA101, to its already marketed MabThera/Rituxan (rituximab), both in combination with chlorambucil.

The study, conducted in cooperation with the German CLL Study Group, examined the drugs in people with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and co-existing medical conditions. The data showed that people treated in the Gazyva arm lived nearly a year longer without their disease worsening (progression-free survival, or PFS).

Hal Barron, Roche’s chief medical officer and head of global product development, said: “Gazyva is the result of years of research for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. These new data are important because they showed for the first time that Gazyva significantly extended progression-free survival when directly compared against MabThera/Rituxan.”