Roche achieves goals in Xeloda colon cancer study

Swiss drug maker Roche says it has achieved its goals in a phase 111 study of its cancer drug Xeloda used to treat colon cancer.

"Oral Xeloda was proven to be at least equivalent to intravenous 5-FU/LV, meeting the primary end-point of the trial," it said in a statement referring to a study comparing Xeloda to a standard treatment for the early stages of colon cancer.

"Even if only equivalent in efficacy -- Xeloda might be better but we will not know until ASCO -- since Xeloda is an oral drug it is expected to be preferred by patients over an intravenous treatment," said Kepler Equities analyst Denise Anderson.

While not a surprise, "the new indication is expected to significantly boost the number of potential patients for Xeloda... We forecast sales of 1.2 billion Swiss francs by 2007, up from 515 million francs in 2003. Roche forecasts peak sales for Xeloda of 1-1.5 billion francs."

Roche said colorectal cancer was the third most commonly reported cancer in 2000 with almost a million new cases worldwide. The firm said the full results of the trial would be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in New Orleans in June.

Roche has four cancer drugs on the market, Xeloda, Herceptin, MabThera and Avastin, which are also used to treat breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Previously the laggard of the European pharmaceuticals sector following a series of product setbacks, it now trades at a premium to its peers thanks to a promising pipeline and tie-ups with US firm Genentech and Japan's Chugai.