Results from two Phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2009 show statistically significant benefits via the addition of Vectibix to both first- and second-line chemotherapy for wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer. These positive data could help Vectibix to overcome Erbitux’s first-to-market status and usurp its current position.

The Phase III PRIME study investigated first-line FOLFOX4 (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin) with or without Vectibix (panitumumab; Amgen) in 1,183 metastatic colorectal cancer patients The addition of Vectibix to standard chemotherapy resulted in a statistically significant increase in progression-free survival of 9.6 months in wild-type KRAS patients, versus 8.0 months for chemotherapy alone (p=0.0234).

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