Amgen recently closed a $2.2 billion deal to acquire its panitumumab development partner, Abgenix. The takeover gives Amgen full control of the anticancer candidate, but the deal will not begin to benefit the economic performance of the company until panitumumab achieves commercial success.
“Panitumumab reduced the rate of disease progression by approximately half compared to best supportive care alone in these heavily pre-treated patients,” said Dr Marc Peeters, coordinator of digestive oncology unit, University Hospital Ghent, and one of the study’s lead investigators.
In this multi-national, open-label phase III study, 463 patients were randomized to receive 6 mg/kg panitumumab plus best supportive care (BSC) every two weeks or BSC alone. An independent, central radiology review board assessed disease progression and tumor shrinkage.
Patients who received panitumumab every two weeks showed a 46% decrease in tumor progression rate versus those who received best supportive care alone. A significantly higher proportion of patients were alive and free of disease progression on panitumumab at all of the scheduled time points though week 32.