EU blesses Avastin for broader use

Here Avastin, there Avastin, everywhere there's Avastin. Roche got European approval to use the cancer therapy with any type of chemo for patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Designed to inhibit tumor growth by choking off their blood supply, Avastin was first approved in the U.S. in 2004 for colorectal cancer, and since has been OK'd for use in other forms of the disease; in Europe, the med is sold for kidney, lung, and breast cancer in addition to bowel cancer. But unfortunately for Roche, the FDA appears set to reject the drug for use in breast cancer next month, after an advisory panel gave the indication a thumbs-down.

Meanwhile, Bayer got the OK from Japanese regulators to sell its cancer drug Nexavar as treatment for advanced kidney cancer. Bayer partners with Onyx Pharmaceuticals on the drug.

- see the release from Roche
- read this MarketWatch report
- check out this Bayer-Nexavar piece

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