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Jan. 24 Company Quick Takes: Tecentriq misses in bladder cancer; plus Gilead-CDC and PureTech

January 25, 2020 1:31 AM UTC
Updated on Jan 25, 2020 at 1:46 AM UTC

Phase III miss for Tecentriq as adjuvant for bladder cancer
Genentech Inc. said Tecentriq atezolizumab as post-surgery adjuvant monotherapy vs. no intervention failed to improve disease-free survival, the primary endpoint in the Phase III IMvigor010 trial in muscle-invasive urothelial cancer. The Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) unit reported in August that the anti-PDL1 mAb plus chemotherapy met the co-primary endpoint of increasing progression-free survival vs. chemotherapy alone in the Phase III IMvigor130 study for first-line bladder cancer. However, Tecentriq monotherapy vs. chemotherapy had resulted in poorer overall survival in patients with low PD-L1 expression in IMvigor130 (see “Bladder Cancer Data Gives Tecentriq Another First-line Win”).

Gilead claims CDC’s PrEP patents are invalid
In response to a lawsuit from the U.S. government accusing Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) of infringing patents on PrEP filed by CDC, the biotech argued in documents filed Thursday that CDC’s four patents for HIV drugs Truvada emtricitabine/tenofovir and Descovy emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide are invalid. Gilead denied that CDC had “conceived of and developed” the use of emtricitabine and tenofovir as PrEP, or that CDC’s work constituted a “breakthrough” that resulted in any “innovative regimens.” The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, is seeking royalties and payments for damages from Gilead (see "Gilead to Seek Pause in HIV PrEP Suit")...