Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) today announced preliminary results from
BRIM7, an ongoing Phase Ib trial conducted by Roche and Genentech,
Exelixis' collaborator and a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG;
OTCQX: RHHBY), of the BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) vemurafenib in combination
with the MEK inhibitor GDC-0973 in patients with locally
advanced/unresectable or metastatic melanoma carrying a BRAFV600
mutation. Rene Gonzalez, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Dermatology and
Director of the Melanoma Research Clinics at the University of Colorado
Denver, and an investigator on the trial, presented the data today at
the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2012 Annual Meeting
(Abstract #LBA28), which is taking place in Vienna, Austria. The results
of the study were also highlighted in an ESMO press briefing.
Roche has disclosed that it intends to evaluate the combination of
vemurafenib with GDC-0973 versus vemurafenib in a multicenter,
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III trial in
previously untreated patients with BRAFV600 mutation
positive, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic melanoma.
New insights into melanoma metastasis reveal potential drug target