Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) and Biogen Idec (Nasdaq:BIIB) today announced that two global Phase III studies in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), CLL8 and REACH, showed Rituxan® (rituximab) plus chemotherapy significantly increased the time patients lived without their disease advancing, as defined by the primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS), when compared to chemotherapy alone. No new safety signals were observed in either of these studies and the safety profile was consistent with previous experience with Rituxan. Results from both studies were featured today during a press briefing at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Francisco.

"These are among the largest studies ever conducted in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and are significant for patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed disease," said David Schenkein, M.D., Genentech's senior vice president, Clinical Oncology and Hematology. "These data show that adding Rituxan to chemotherapy improved both progression-free survival and reduced patients' tumor burden."

In CLL8, patients who received Rituxan plus chemotherapy first-line had a 69 percent improvement in PFS compared to patients receiving chemotherapy alone (based on a hazard ratio of 0.59; p