Lilly to present new ramucirumab data at ASCO 2012

Lilly has announced plans to present new late-stage clinical trial data on its multipurpose cancer therapy ramucirumab at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2012 annual meeting.

Data from three of six phase III studies of the fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody receptor antagonist will be showcased at the Chicago event next month, highlighting its performance against metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma and hepatocellular cancer.

This will be supported by data from a phase II study that evaluated the drug among persistent or recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal carcinoma patients.

Ramucirumab is involved in one of the largest clinical programs currently underway at Lilly, with six global phase III trials being carried out, spanning breast, colorectal, hepatocellular, lung and gastric cancer.

Dr Richard Gaynor, vice-president for product development and medical affairs at Lilly Oncology, said: "We believe that our broad oncology research and development programme will lead to new therapies for a wide array of patients."

In total, more than 25 studies will be presented by Lilly at ASCO 2012.