THE first of a long-awaited new generation of anti-cancer drugs was approved last week by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Avastin, made by Genentech of San Francisco, suffocates tumours by preventing them from growing their own blood supply, a process called angiogenesis. It is an antibody that mops up vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the signalling molecule that stimulates the growth of blood vessels. Trials involving 900 people with colorectal cancer showed that patients given Avastin as well as existing drugs survived on average five months longer.
Trials of around a dozen other drugs are under way. Schering and…
