Eyes on Aveo's Nexavar Competition

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Aveo Pharmaceuticals’ non-small cell lung cancer drug may have missed its goal, but it didn’t affect the company’s stock at all. Aveo closed up two cents on Wednesday, probably because although ficlatuzumab disappointed, Aveo’s big attraction remains its kidney cancer drug.

The Phase II study in Asia of ficlatuzumab showed no statistically significant difference between patients treated with ficlatuzumab in combination with AstraZeneca’s gefitinib — marketed as Iressa &mdash; compared to patients given gefitinib alone.

The response rate for the combination of drugs was 43%, only slightly higher than the 40% response rate of Iressa alone.

Aveo’s stock took a dive earlier this year when the company published data on tivozanib the underwhelmed analysts. In a head-to-head matchup, tivozanib’s progression free survival rate was 11.9 months compared to Nexavar’s 9.1 months.

While the data for Aveo’s experimental kidney cancer drug, tivozanib, isn’t any more pronounced over its competitor, Aveo plans to file for approval with the FDA in the third quarter. It is gearing up for the likely launch of the drug with plans to hire 120 new staffers.

FierceBiotech

Success for tivozanib could help transform Aveo from a “developer into a more mature company with a drug to sell,” according to . If Aveo’s tivozanib gets FDA approval, then it’s likely looking at a 2013 launch.

The information contained in this article should not be construed as investment advice or as a solicitation to buy or sell any stock.

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