Roche drug fails key test

Roche Holding AG's Avastin cancer drug failed to keep tumors at bay in a much-anticipated study, sending the shares to their biggest decline in 20 years.

The medicine didn't reduce the risk of tumors returning when given with chemotherapy to patients with early colon cancer following surgery, Roche's Genentech Inc said yesterday.

Positive results in the adjuvant setting would have helped expand the market for the treatment that brought in 5.2 billion Swiss francs last year.