Amgen Drug Slows Spread of Cancer but Doesn’t Extend Life

The Burrill Report submits: By Michael Fitzhugh

Prohost Biotech submits:In the news, Cytokinetics (CYTK) announced that, in the first half of 2011, the company and Amgen (AMGN) have agreed to initiate a Phase IIb clinical trial of an intravenous formulation of omecamtiv mecarbil for patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction hosp

Amgen said its bone drug, denosumab, outperformed Novartis's Zometa in treating breast-cancer patients whose tumors have spread to the bone.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Scientists for the Food and Drug Administration say that an Amgen drug slowed the spread of cancer to the bone in men with hard-to-treat prostate cancer, though the drug did not extend life and carried significant side effects....

WASHINGTON — Scientists for the Food and Drug Administration say that an Amgen drug slowed the spread of cancer to the bone in men with hard-to-treat prostate cancer, though the drug did not extend life and carried significant side effects.

By Bryce Istvan:Xgeva, part of the Denosumab family, is Amgen’s (AMGN) latest bone related drug. Its current indication is for the treatment of skeletal related events (SREs) caused by bone metastases in all cancers excluding multiple myelomas.

Zacks.com submits: Amgen Inc. (AMGN) received a boost recently when the company announced positive results from a pivotal head-to-head phase III study that was conducted with Amgen’s main pipeline candidate, denosumab.