FDA commits to quick review of new Genentech breast cancer drug

Genentech Inc.’s next-generation breast cancer drug will get priority review from the Food and Drug Administration.
The South San Francisco-based U.S. unit of drug giant Roche Group said Tuesday that the FDA said it would make a decision about the drug, called pertuzumab, by June 8.
Pertuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody designed to prevent the HER2 receptor — or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, which promotes the growth of cancer cells — from pairing with other HER receptors. That may stop cancer cell growth or lead to the death of the cancer cell.
Researchers also believe when pertuzumab binds to HER2 that it may signal the body’s immune system to destroy the cancer cells.