Bayer AG - Stockholders' Newsletter First Quarter 2007 - Nexavar® verlängert die Gesamtüberlebenszeit bei Leberkrebs

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Nexavar® extends overall survival in patients with liver cancer

Rachid El Kasmi, who works for Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal, observes the isolation of sorafenib, the active ingredient in the new cancer medicine Nexavar®.

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Rachid El Kasmi, who works for Bayer HealthCare in Wuppertal, observes the isolation of sorafenib, the active ingredient in the new cancer medicine Nexavar®.

Leverkusen. The cancer medicine Nexavar®, jointly developed by Bayer HealthCare and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, is also showing promising study results in liver cancer. The placebo-controlled phase III trial in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, or primary liver cancer, met its primary endpoint resulting in superior overall survival. This means that overall survival was significantly extended in patients receiving Nexavar®. Furthermore, there was no demonstrated difference in serious adverse event rates between Nexavar® and placebo.
Based on these conclusions, an independent data monitoring committee that reviewed the safety and efficacy data of Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets recommended that the trial be stopped early. Bayer and Onyx will follow this recommendation and allow all patients enrolled in the trial access to Nexavar®.

The higher rate of overall survival for Nexavar®-treated patients over patients receiving placebo demonstrates the efficacy of Nexavar® in advanced primary liver cancer.

Additional studies are evaluating the efficacy of Nexavar® in the treatment of a wide range of cancers, including metastatic melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer and breast cancer. Nexavar® is currently approved in nearly 50 countries for the treatment of patients with advanced kidney cancer.