SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), today announced results from a Phase III study (RIBBON 2) of Avastin® (bevacizumab) in women who had previously been treated with initial (first-line) chemotherapy for advanced HER2-negative breast cancer and needed additional (second-line) treatment. The study showed that women who received Avastin in combination with a commonly used chemotherapy had a 28 percent improvement in the likelihood of living without the disease getting worse (progression-free survival or PFS), compared with those who received chemotherapy alone (hazard ratio=0.78; p=0.0072). The doctors treating the women in the study chose the type of chemotherapy used in combination with Avastin and the chemotherapies were assessed together in the primary endpoint analysis of PFS. No new safety signals were observed in this study and adverse events were similar to those previously reported for Avastin studies in advanced breast cancer and other indications.
