Novartis Oncology

FRIMLEY, England, December 8 - In a large clinical trial, nilotinib demonstrated greater efficacy over the current gold standard treatment, imatinib, in adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia (Ph+ CML) in the chronic phase.(1) In the first head-to-head study of these two oral treatments as initial therapy for this life-threatening leukaemia, nilotinib demonstrated statistically significant improvement over imatinib in key measures of effectiveness used in the trial.(1) These new data were presented as a late breaker abstract at the 51st annual meeting of the American Society of Haematology (ASH), held 5-8 December 2009, in New Orleans, USA.(1) CML accounts for more than one in six leukaemias in adults, with around 600 new cases being registered in England and Wales each year.(2) The estimated prevalence of CML in 2003 in England and Wales was 2,660 patients.(2) The trial showed that at 12 months, significantly fewer patients on nilotinib 300mg twice-daily progressed from the initial chronic phase of the disease to the later accelerated or blast crisis phases than those on imatinib 400mg once-daily.(1) This demonstrates that nilotinib provided significantly better control of the disease compared to imatinib.

FRIMLEY, England - - This Press Release is Intended for Consumer Media Only - Afinitor More Than Doubles the Median Time Without Tumour Growth and Reduces the Risk of Disease Worsening or Death by 67% Compared With Placebo (2) - Patients With Advanced Kidney Cancer Have Limited Options Once Tumours Progress After First Line Standard Therapy(3) - Recently Published UK Expert Clinical Consensus Recommend Afinitor as Second-Line Therapy for Advanced Kidney Cancer Based on Class I Evidence(4) Afinitor(R) (everolimus) has recently been licensed for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer after failure of treatments which prevent the growth of the tumour's blood vessels.

FRIMLEY, England - Glivec(R) (imatinib) Now Approved in the UK for Post-Surgery Treatment of Patients With KIT (CD117)-Positive Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GIST), who are at Significant Risk of the Cancer Returning After Surgery(1) - Use of Glivec(R) After Surgery Significantly Reduces Risk of Cancer Relapse(2) - If Untreated After Surgery, 50% of patients Will Experience Their Cancer Returning Within Two Years(3,4) Glivec(R) has been approved in the UK for the treatment of patients with the gastrointestinal cancer, KIT (CD117)-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), who have had surgery to remove their cancer and are at significant risk of the cancer returning.(1) Data supporting this new use for Glivec demonstrates that 98% of patients receiving 400mg Glivec daily for a year after surgery to remove their GIST did not experience their tumours returning after 12 months compared to 83% of patients taking placebo.(2) Approximately 900 people in the UK are diagnosed with GIST(5) each year and approximately 86% of those diagnosed will undergo surgery to remove the tumour or tumours.(6) However, if left untreated after surgery, almost 50% of all patients suffer a relapse within two years and recurrent tumours are often more aggressive and more difficult to treat than the initial tumours.(3,4,7) The availability of Glivec for this patient population addresses a previously unmet need for GIST patients.