Roche Melanoma Drug Cuts Risk Of Death By 63 Percent; Bests Bristol-Myers Squibb Company In Study

Advanced melanoma patients treated with an experimental pill developed by Roche and Daiichi Sankyo were 63 percent less likely to die than patients given chemotherapy, according to a new trial. The drug, vemurafenib, is designed for use in patients with tumors that have a mutation in a gene known as BRAF. About half of all melanomas -- the deadliest form of skin cancer -- have the genetic aberration.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC