The European Commission has approved the use of Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with Roche’s Tarceva (erlotinib) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable advanced, metastatic or recurrent non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-activating mutations.

Avastin was first approved in 2004 for treating advanced colorectal cancer. Avastin is approved in Europe for the treatment of advanced stages of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer, and is available in the United States for the treatment of colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, kidney cancer, cervical cancer and platinum-resistant, recurrent ovarian cancer. In addition, Avastin is approved in over 70 other countries worldwide for the treatment of patients with progressive glioblastoma following prior therapy. Avastin is approved in Japan for the treatment of the advanced stages of colorectal, non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and malignant glioma, including newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Tarceva is a once-daily, oral non-chemotherapy medicine for the treatment of advanced or metastatic NSCLC. It has been shown to inhibit EGFR, a protein involved in the growth and development of cancers. Tarceva is developed and commercialized by Astellas Pharma US in partnership with Genentech in the United States, Chugai in Japan, and Roche in the rest of the world.

In 2015, Avastin had sales of CHF 6.68 billion ($6.92 billion) and Tarceva had sales of CHF 1.18 billion ($1.22 billion).

Source: Roche