Genentech Inc

Biotechnology company Genentech Inc. said Monday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 6.4%, but sales of several drugs, including the blockbuster cancer treatment Avastin, fell short of investor expectations, sending the company's shares lower. "Every single product relative to Street consensus was light," said Mike King, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw. "When you've got the biggest products that are the biggest growth drivers -- Avastin and Lucentis -- light, that's disappointing."

In a surprise decision that could portend significant changes in how federal regulators approve cancer drugs, the Food and Drug Administration Friday approved the use of a $100,000-a-year drug for use by women with breast cancer although there is little evidence it helps breast cancer patients live longer. Avastin, manufactured by South San Francisco-based biotech giant Genentech Inc., is already a blockbuster cancer drug used to treat advanced colon and lung cancer.

Genentech Inc. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit jumped 75% on surging sales of Lucentis, its new treatment for the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, and rising demand for its cancer drugs. Its shares rose 1.6% after hours. Lucentis, which was almost immediately adopted as the first treatment option for age-related macular degeneration, has been vanquishing the competition since its June approval.

Shareholders of Tanox Inc. on Monday approved the small biotechnology company's acquisition by drug maker Genentech Inc. Under the terms of the sale, Genentech, based in South San Francisco, would buy Houston-based Tanox for $919 million, or $20 a share. The share price is a premium of 47% over Tanox's closing price the last trading day before the deal was announced in November. The stock had traded between $11.55 and $21 in the year before the offer was announced. Shares closed Friday at $19.

Genentech Inc. said Friday that it warned doctors that Lucentis, a treatment for the leading cause of blindness among the elderly, may increase risk of stroke. Patients taking the highest dose of Lucentis to treat macular degeneration had a 1.2% risk of stroke, four times the risk of a lower dose, according to a letter to doctors from Genentech. Lucentis has been Genentech's most successful product introduction.

U.S. regulators requested additional information about Genentech Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Tanox Inc., delaying the $919-million transaction. The companies said they expected the review to extend beyond the first quarter and the deal, Genentech's first acquisition, to close during the first half of this year. The companies had originally expected approval from the Federal Trade Commission by the end of March.

Genentech Inc.'s Avastin, used to treat colorectal and lung cancers, can slow the growth of incurable brain tumors, a study found. The 32-patient trial found that combining Avastin with chemotherapy halted growth of gliomas, the most common and deadly brain malignancies, twice as long as existing treatments, researchers said. The study, which evaluated patients with recurrent brain tumors, is published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Genentech Inc. said Wednesday that it lost a ruling on a patent that generates an estimated $300 million a year in royalties from companies using the technology to make cancer and rheumatoid arthritis treatments. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Genentech's so-called Cabilly II patent based on a reexamination requested by MedImmune Inc. and another party. Genentech's patent covers methods used in producing antibody-based therapies.

Genentech Inc. said Friday that researchers had halted a trial of its second-biggest cancer drug and that first-quarter sales had stalled. The clinical trial of the drug, Avastin, was stopped in patients with a form of lung cancer after two patients developed holes in their gastrointestinal tract and windpipe. One patient died, Genentech spokeswoman Kristina Becker said. Avastin, already approved for colon cancer and a more common form of lung cancer, generated $1.

Genentech Inc. said Wednesday that first-quarter profit surged 68%, helped by sales growth of its cancer medicine Avastin and cost controls. The world's second-largest biotechnology firm said sales of its new eye disease drug, Lucentis, were $211 million in just its third full quarter on the market, but that amount was $6 million short of the previous quarter. Analysts had expected Lucentis to bring in $212 million to $220 million in the first quarter.