Exelixis announces breakthrough results from kidney cancer study assessing COMETRIQ®

WASHINGTON - July 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Exelixis, Inc. has announced positive top line results from METEOR, the pivotal phase 3 trial evaluating COMETRIQ® (cabozantinib) in comparison to everolimus in 658 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have experienced disease progression following treatment with a VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

The METEOR study revealed that COMETRIQ® reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 42 percent in comparison to the everolimus arm (hazard ratio [HR]=0.58, 95 percent CI 0.45-0.75, p<0.0001). The trial was successful in meeting its endpoint based on the increase in progression-free survival (PFS) in the first 375 randomized patients as determined by an independent radiology committee (IRC).  According to Exelixis, a prespecified interim analysis stimulated by the principal analysis of the PFS exemplified a trend in overall survival (OS) favoring COMETRIQ®.

“The positive top-line results from METEOR represent strong progress for the kidney cancer community and for Exelixis, bringing us one step closer to our shared goal of delivering a new and meaningfully differentiated therapeutic option for the many metastatic RCC patients in need,” said Michael M. Morrissey, Ph.D., the company’s president and chief executive officer.

Dr. Morrissey continued, “Delivering these top-line results for METEOR is one of multiple clinical development and regulatory milestones that we have planned for this year. These milestones collectively have the potential to significantly enhance the opportunities before us and bring value to the multiple stakeholders we serve. We look forward to sharing the detailed results of METEOR with the oncology community at an upcoming medical conference, and we thank all of the patients, families, investigators, and clinical staff who made the trial possible.”

Cabozantinib received Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2015 based on its potential to treat advanced RCC patients who have received one prior therapy. Exelixis is expected to submit U.S. regulatory filings for this indication in early 2016.

Candidates who want to break into pharmaceutical sales:

Now is the time to enter this wonderful career field! With such industry leaders paving the way on identifying new beneficial therapeutic breakthroughs, they will need both certified and qualified individuals to promote their diversified product portfolio. When industry leaders look for new candidates for sales/marketing positions, they look toward individuals that are industry trained and have the background to promote their product both proficiently and efficiently.

The NAPSRx® is a trade association for pharmaceutical sales reps, sales managers and sales trainers who work in the pharmaceutical industry. NAPSRx® provides Continuing Medical Education to its members as well as CNPR® Certification to candidates who look to enter a pharmaceutical sales career. The CNPR® Program represents a level of industry achievement and a demonstrated knowledge of pharmacology, medical terminology, pharmaceutical selling guidelines, physician selling techniques and industry standards. Upon successful completion of the training each student will receive the Certification Mark of the CNPR®.

Individuals that are interested in becoming a Certified National Pharmaceutical Representative (CNPR) can contact the National Association of Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives(NAPSRx) for more information or visit the website at http://napsronline.org/.