Genentech Halts Bid to Expand Drug’s Use

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO —  Genentech Inc., one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies, halted a study to expand use of its clot buster Activase after it failed to prove effective for stroke patients three to five hours after stroke symptoms began.

An interim analysis by outside experts said there was an “extremely small statistical chance” of demonstrating any benefit by testing another 500 people, as had been planned. Activase is widely used to treat heart attacks and can minimize the damage from stroke when given within three hours of the attack.

The results underscore the need for stroke patients to get to the hospital immediately after an attack begins. South San Francisco-based Genentech said it has dropped plans to seek approval for the expanded use and is working with national health groups to teach people to recognize stroke symptoms and the need for fast treatment.

Genentech shares rose 50 cents to close at $68.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The outside experts didn’t comment on the safety of patients taking Activase, and detailed study results still haven’t been given to Genentech, spokeswoman Betsy Rosenberg said.

In an earlier study, 6.4% of patients treated with Activase experienced bleeding in the brain, compared with 0.6% of those taking a placebo.

Genentech already is looking to new products, such as cancer drugs, to boost earnings as sales of Activase decline. The drug faces competition from Centocor Inc.’s Retavase and a procedure known as angioplasty that is used to open clogged arteries.

Genentech started selling Rituxan, a drug for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, last year and is developing a breast cancer drug, Herceptin.

Tuesday, Genentech said second-quarter earnings rose 70% and raised its 1998 earnings forecast as sales of Rituxan offset declines in Activase sales.

Net income rose to $40.4 million, or 31 cents a diluted share, and revenue increased 15% to $268 million.