New Trial To Evaluate Nexavar® As Adjuvant Therapy In Liver Cancer

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Clinical Trials / Drug Trials;  Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 26 Aug 2008 - 3:00 PST

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Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the start of a Phase III study with Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets in liver cancer. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is evaluating Nexavar as an adjuvant therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or primary liver cancer. An adjuvant treatment is given as an additional systemic therapy after the initial tumor treatment, e.g. surgery, to fight cancer cells that may have spread.

The STORM (Sorafenib as Adjuvant Treatment in the Prevention of Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma) trial aims to further build on earlier Phase III data, which demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival in patients with unresectable liver cancer. Based on the strength of these data, Nexavar was approved for HCC in the U.S. and Europe at the end of 2007.

"Nexavar is the only systemic therapy with proven efficacy and tolerability in HCC across multiple patient populations," said Dimitris Voliotis, MD, Vice President, Nexavar Clinical Development, Bayer HealthCare. "Liver cancer is the third largest global cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and there is a significant need for new therapies that can be used at all stages in the course of the disease to delay progression and prolong life."

In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the trial. An SPA is a written agreement between the FDA and the company that the design and size of a clinical trial are acceptable to support a New Drug Application for marketing in the United States.

About the Phase III Study

Currently there are no adjuvant treatments with proven benefit in HCC. The international multicenter study is expected to enroll approximately 1,100 patients and will include patients who previously received surgery or other procedures to remove their tumor. The study will look at whether providing oral Nexavar in the adjuvant setting delays the time to recurrence and increases overall survival. The primary endpoint of the study is recurrence free survival.

Secondary endpoints include overall survival, time to recurrence, patient-reported outcomes, plasma biomarkers, safety and tolerability.

The study is enrolling patients with all HCC histologies. Patients will be randomized to receive 400 mg of oral Nexavar twice daily or matching placebo for up to four years. The study will be conducted at more than 200 sites in North America, South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. For information about enrolling in the study, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

About Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver cancer and is responsible for about 90 percent of the primary malignant liver tumors in adults. Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. More than 600,000 cases of liver cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year (more than 400,000 in China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, 54,000 in the European Union, and 15,000 in the United States) and the incidence is increasing. In 2002, approximately 600,000 people died of liver cancer including approximately 370,000 in China, South Korea and Japan, 57,000 in the European Union, and 13,000 in the United States.

About Nexavar®

Nexavar® targets both the tumor cell and tumor vasculature. In preclinical studies, Nexavar has been shown to target members of two classes of kinases known to be involved in both cell proliferation (growth) and angiogenesis (blood supply) two important processes that enable cancer growth. These kinases included Raf kinase, VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, VEGFR-3, PDGFR-B, KIT, FLT-3 and RET.

Nexavar is currently approved in more than 40 countries for liver cancer and in more than 70 countries for the treatment of patients with advanced kidney cancer. In Europe, Nexavar is approved for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have failed prior interferon-alpha or interleukin-2 based therapy or are considered unsuitable for such therapy. Nexavar is also being evaluated by the companies, international study groups, government agencies and individual investigators as a single agent or combination treatment in a wide range of cancers, including metastatic melanoma, lung cancer, breast cancer and as an adjuvant therapy for kidney cancer.

About Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of people with cancer. The company, in collaboration with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is developing and marketing Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets, a small molecule drug. For more information about Onyx, visit the company's website at http://www.onyx-pharm.com.

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care and Pharmaceuticals divisions. The pharmaceuticals business operates under the name Bayer Schering Pharma. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Find more information at http://www.bayerhealthcare.com.

Bayer Schering Pharma is a worldwide leading specialty pharmaceutical company. Its research and business activities are focused on the following areas: Diagnostic Imaging, General Medicine, Specialty Medicine and Women's Healthcare. With innovative products, Bayer Schering Pharma aims for leading positions in specialized markets worldwide. Using new ideas, Bayer Schering Pharma aims to make a contribution to medical progress and strives to improve the quality of life. Find more information at http://www.bayerscheringpharma.de.

Forward Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.