Good results reported for S-1 gastric cancer drug

PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis and Taiho Pharmaceutical said final-stage clinical study results of their S-1 oral stomach cancer drug showed it "significantly" improved chances of survival compared with surgery.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis and Japanese drugmaker Taiho said on Friday that patients with early stage stomach cancer who had been treated with S-1 had a 32 percent lower risk of dying from the disease than those who were treated by surgery.

The drug had met both its trial goals, and the companies said in a joint statement it was one of the most important advances in early stage gastric cancer in 40 years.

Stomach cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the world, with more than 700,000 deaths a year.

The main goal of the phase III trial on 1,059 Japanese patients was to demonstrate overall survival. Its secondary endpoint was relapse-free survival and safety.

S-1 is already prescribed in Japan to treat stomach cancer as well as several other forms of the disease. It is in the final stages of health trials in the United States and Europe.

Taiho develops and markets the drug in its home country and several other Asian countries, while Sanofi develops and markets S-1 in Europe and the United States.

The results were announced at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in Orlando, the United States.