Roche Notches Big IO Win With Tecentriq/Avastin Combo In First-Line HCC

21 Oct 2019

Following quickly on a Bristol trial failure with Opdivo in first-line HCC, Roche’s PD-L1 inhibitor looks poised to be the first immunotherapy approved in the setting, with plans for US, EU and China filings.

Roche hopes to offer the first OS improvement in more than a decade in HCC

Roche appears to have made some progress carving out a niche versus checkpoint inhibitor leaders Merck & Co. Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., as its combination regimen of PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq and anti-VEGF therapy Avastin bested standard-of-care Nexavar in first-line hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for patients not eligible for surgery.

Roche subsidiary Genentech Inc. announced on 21 October that the combo met the co-primary endpoints of overall survival (OS)...