Roche Korea is strengthening its position in the local hepatocellular carcinoma market after receiving reimbursement for combination therapy of Tecentriq and Avastin as a first-line treatment, according to an expert Wednesday.
“Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy will bring major changes in treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma in the future,” Professor Lim Ho-young of the Department of Hemato-oncology at Samsung Medical Center said in a press conference. “Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy will become the best treatment option with the reimbursement.”
The professor added that the combination of Tecentriq and Avastin is currently a winner in the first-line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Lim noted that only a few doctors would use Nexavar or Lenvima in a situation where the combination treatment for Tecentriq and Avastin receives reimbursement.
He explained the clinical results of IMbrave150, which led to the reimbursement of the Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy.
“In the IMbrave150 clinical trial, Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy reduced the risk of death by 42 percent and disease progression and death by 41 percent compared to sorafenib,” Lim said. “The median overall survival time of the Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy group was 19.2 months, 34 percent longer than that of the sorafenib control group.”
The objective response rate was 29.8 percent, and the complete remission rate was 7.7 percent, which was an improvement compared to 11.3 and 0.6 percent of the sorafenib control group, Lim added.
Thanks to such benefits, Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy is recommended as a preferred option in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines and as a standard of care in the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines.
In a real-world study on Koreans in which Professor Lim participated, the Tecentriq and Avastin combination therapy showed a disease control rate of 76 percent and an objective response rate of 24 percent.
“The median progression-free survival period was 6.5 months, almost identical to the 6.8 months calculated by IMbrave150,” Lim said. “Now, the remaining key is which drug to use as the second-line treatment after the combination therapy of Tecentriq and Avastin.”
Roche Korea CEO Nic Horridge also said, “The government, the medical community, and Roche Korea have worked together to improve access to treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma patients, who have had a high unmet need, so I am very happy to be able to deliver the news of reimbursement for Tecentric and Avastin combination therapy.”
He added that Roche Korea would continue to strive to deliver hope to patients and their families who have cancer and rare diseases.