Bayer, Onyx Drug Helps Patients with Thyroid Cancer in Trial

FRANKFURT--Germany's Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) and U.S. company Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX) said Thursday their Nexavar tablets improved progression-free survival in patients with radioactive iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer in a late-stage trial.

Bayer plans to submit the trial data as the basis for marketing authorization of Nexavar in the treatment of this type of thyroid cancer.

The drug, also called Sorafenib, reached the phase III trial's primary endpoint in patents with locally advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer, they said. The safety and tolerability were generally consistent with the known profile of Nexavar. Detailed efficacy and safety analysis from this study are expected to be presented at an upcoming medical meeting.

"We are pleased that the results of this study demonstrate that Nexavar may provide a treatment option" for patients with RAI-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, said Dimitris Voliotis, vice president of Bayer's clinical development in oncology.

Thyroid cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women. There are more than 160,000 new cases of thyroid cancer and approximately 25,000 people die worldwide each year.

Papillary and follicular types of thyroid cancer are classified as differentiated and account for that vast majority of thyroid cancers. While the majority of differentiated thyroid cancers are treatable, RAI-refractory, locally advanced, or metastatic disease is associated with a lower survival rate.

Nexavar, an oral anti-cancer therapy for liver cancer and for the treatment of patients with advanced kidney cancer, is currently approved in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Write to Friedrich Geiger at [e-mail]

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