Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Statement on U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Decision Removing Avastin from Approved Brea

Organization Urges Aggressive Research into Treatments for Advanced and Metastatic Cancers

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, issued the following statement today from Komen president Elizabeth Thompson about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision removing Avastin from the list of approved drugs for the treatment of advanced and metastatic breast cancer:

“We know that this decision was a difficult one for the FDA and respect the length of time they spent deliberating the many issues that impact patients.

“As a patient advocacy organization, we want to ensure that women who are successfully using Avastin today continue to have access to the drug, and that their treatment be covered by third-party payers.

“This decision underscores the need for aggressive research to develop treatments that will allow women to live full, high-quality lives even with advanced and metastatic breast cancers. At the same time, we encourage continued research into biomarkers that will help identify which patients will or will not benefit from certain treatments.

“Susan G. Komen for the Cure has invested $25.5 million to metastatic research in the past five years alone and $685 million to breast cancer research since we opened our doors in 1982. As a patient advocacy organization, we call on all stakeholders — government, private industry, academia and the nonprofit community — to help develop treatments that are more personalized in nature, hopefully with fewer or measured toxicities, and to make these available to patients as safely and as quickly as possible.”

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer. Today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure works to end breast cancer in the U.S. and throughout the world through ground-breaking research, community health outreach, advocacy and programs in more than 50 countries with a special focus on low-resource and developing nations. Visit komen.org. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.



CONTACT:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure®
Leslie Aun, 972-701-2168
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Texas

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Women  Health  Public Policy/Government  Oncology  Pharmaceutical  Public Policy  White House/Federal Government  FDA  Consumer

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