Clovis' Rubraca tops early expectations

In its 1Q17 earnings announcement, Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:CLVS) reported $7 million in sales of Rubraca rucaparib, beating a $4.9 million consensus estimate. Clovis launched the PARP inhibitor in December after FDA granted the drug accelerated approval as a third-line treatment for BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer (see BioCentury Extra, Dec. 19, 2016).

On a conference call Wednesday, President and CEO Patrick Mahaffy said "anecdotes" suggest some patients were switching to Rubraca from competing PARP inhibitor Lynparza olaparib. He added that about 10% of prescriptions were for off-label use, primarily in other tumor types. AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) markets Lynparza to treat patients with BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer in the fourth-line setting...