Word: genentech
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Doctors knew Genentech was onto something when early results came in from drug trials on Lucentis. Something so big, in fact, that patients who heard about it were desperate to get the wonder drug - the most effective treatment yet against wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the severe form of a chronic eye disease affecting 1.7 million Americans and a leading cause of blindness in the country...
...Lucentis had yet to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration. That's why in May 2005 Dr. Philip Rosenfeld, a macular-degeneration specialist in Miami, offered an offbeat solution: he proposed administering a drug with a similar molecular structure,?also made by Genentech, which was already approved by the FDA - for treating colorectal cancer. Since then an estimated 10,000 people worldwide have given the drug, Avastin, a shot - literally - by taking an injection of it in the eye. And most of them have had very good results with the Lucentis cousin...
...temporary fix.??A dose of Avastin for the eye costs as little as $13, says Rosenfeld, who is also a lead author on Lucentis trial reports. (Using FDA-approved drugs for "off-label" uses is??common practice, especially in ophthalmology.) Lucentis is almost certain to be pricier when Genentech announces the U.S. sales tag: competing treatments cost up to $3000 per dose...
Even high-technology shares, which were severely depressed in 1984, came back to life. Leading the way was IBM, the top computer manufacturer, which rose 26%, to 155½. Smaller companies scored even more spectacular gains. Genentech, the gene-splicing firm, jumped 95%, to 66 5/8. Zenith Laboratories, a drug manufacturer, more than tripled, from 6 1/2 to 20. Other industries with high-flying stocks included drugs, retail clothing, insurance, cable TV, pollution control, and lawn and garden products...
...predict the future, but I can tell you that Cetus is definitely not interested in being acquired by a large drug company. We think we have the products, the financing and the experienced people to build a very successful business on our own." Echoes Swanson of Genentech: "I believe we are well on our way to building a major, profitable pharmaceutical company." But Genentech, Cetus and the other pioneers of the brave new world of biotech still have a long way to go. --By Charles P. Alexander. Reported by Cristina Garcia/San Francisco