Roche reports positive trial data for blood cancer drug Gazyva

Roche has announced positive clinical trial data for Gazyva, its new therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), one of the most common forms of blood cancer.

Data from the second stage of the phase III CLL11 study has revealed that Gazyva, when administered in combination with chlorambucil, can offer numerous advantages over MabThera/Rituxan plus chlorambucil among people with previously untreated CLL and co-existing medical conditions.

It was revealed that those receiving the Gazyva-based therapy lived nearly a year longer without their disease worsening, while higher complete response rates and a tenfold increase in the percentage of people achieving minimal residual disease negativity was also observed.

Dr Hal Barron, Roche's chief medical officer and head of global product development, said: "This new data is important because it showed for the first time that Gazyva significantly extended progression-free survival when directly compared against MabThera/Rituxan."

Earlier this month, the company announced it will be allying with Polyphor on joint research into new means of combating multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections.