Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Avastin hits PFS/misses OS in phase-3 trial in first-line glioblastoma:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/genentech-study-showed-avastin-helped-154500206.html

The trial design was Temodar+radiation +/- Avastin; the HR for PFS (as measured by the trial clinicians) was 0.64 (p<0.0001).

Although the OS data are still maturing, they almost certainly won’t be statsig; at the most recent checkpoint, the HR for OS was 0.89 (p=0.21).

The one-year survival rate, a secondary endpoint, also missed being statsig (barely): 72% for the Avastin arm and 66% for the control arm (p=0.052).

Curiously, the HR for PFS as measured by a central committee was 0.61—slightly better than the HR measured by the clinicians. (This is the opposite of the usual outcome when dual evaluations are conducted.)