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news.Interim analysis of phase III data has shown that Nexavar, a drug being co-developed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, has produced an estimated 39% improvement in survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced kidney cancer.
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The interim analysis from the trial was presented during the thirteenth European Cancer Conference in Paris.
More than 900 patients with advanced kidney cancer participated in the international phase III study. Patients were randomized one-to-one to receive either 400 mg Nexavar or placebo twice a day.
In April 2005, the study was modified to allow patients who were receiving placebo to “cross over” to drug treatment based on the magnitude of the progression-free survival benefit for Nexavar treated patients.
“These data build on the previously announced finding that disease progression was significantly delayed in advanced kidney cancer patients who received Nexavar,” said Dr Bernard Escudier, head of the immunotherapy and innovative therapy unit at the Gustave-Roussy Institute, and co-principle investigator in the trial. “As a clinician who regularly sees individuals suffering from this disease, I am encouraged by this growing body of data and what they may mean for patients and their families.”