Genentech to present new data on personalized medicines and cancer immunotherapies

New pivotal results for Perjeta and Alecensa demonstrating improvement over standards of care.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, has announced new data on 20 approved and investigational medicines will be presented during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting from 2 to 6 June, in Chicago. More than 190 abstracts have been accepted, including two "late breakers" and 24 oral presentations.

"We are making significant advances with personalized medicines and cancer immunotherapies," said Sandra Horning, chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "With continued research and collaborations, we are striving to develop medicines and combinations, incorporate sophisticated diagnostics and integrate big data in our effort to get closer to the goal of curing cancer."

Key highlights from the Genentech oncology portfolio include new results from the APHINITY study in early breast cancer and ALEX study in lung cancer. Both of these studies will be highlighted as part of ASCO’s official press program on Monday 5 June. APHINITY is a randomized Phase III study, investigating Perjeta plus Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy as an adjuvant (after surgery) treatment for people with HER2-positive early breast cancer. The APHINITY study was conducted in collaboration with the Breast International Group (BIG), Breast European Adjuvant Study Team (BrEAST) and Frontier Science Foundation (FS). ALEX is a randomized, multicenter, open-label Phase III study that compared Alecensa and crizotinib in people with previously untreated ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

There has been great progress in the area of cancer immunotherapy in recent years, and Genentech continues to investigate novel ways to harness the immune system in the fight against cancer as part of its vision to bring the next generation of cancer immunotherapies to patients. With more than 20 investigational cancer immunotherapies in development and 12 in clinical trials, Genentech will be presenting early results on its first T-cell bispecific antibody (CEA-CD3 TCB: RG7802; RO6958688) for the treatment of CEA-positive cancers, including metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). These data have been generated from two ongoing dose-escalation Phase I studies in which CEA-CD3 TCB is used alone or in combination with Tecentriq (atezolizumab).