Aranesp Didn't Increase Deaths in Latest Trial

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Trial of Amgen Drug May Dispel Some Safety Concerns

By ANDREW POLLACK

Published: April 20, 2007

In an announcement that could dispel at least some of the recent

safety concerns over a widely used class of drugs, Amgen said

yesterday that its anemia drug Aranesp did not increase the death

rate of lung cancer patients in a closely watched clinical trial.

In the trial, which involved 600 patients with small-cell lung

cancer who were receiving chemotherapy, there was essentially no

difference in survival between those who received Aranesp and those

who received a placebo.

The drug maker Roche, however, has ended a clinical trial with lung

cancer patients that compared Aranesp with an anemia drug it is

developing because of an unexpected number of deaths in at least

some of the treatment groups, a Roche spokeswoman confirmed

yesterday.

Aranesp, along with Epogen from Amgen and Procrit from &

, are used by nearly a million Americans a year, mainly to

treat anemia from kidney disease or cancer chemotherapy. Combined

sales of the three drugs were nearly $10 billion last year. Aranesp

and Epogen together accounted for $6.6 billion of Amgen's $14.3

billion in 2006 revenue.

www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/business/20amgen.html?ref=health