Genentech Exhales

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Genentech's (NYSE: DNA) investors got to breathe a sigh of relief yesterday. The company reported data for a clinical trial testing Avastin in breast cancer patients that probably won't help sales much, but certainly could have hurt Genentech if the trial was a failure.

The company didn't release full details but said that the trial testing Avastin in combination with a chemotherapy such as Abraxis Bioscience's (Nasdaq: ABII) Abraxane, Sanofi-Aventis' (NYSE: SNY) Taxotere, or Roche's Xeloda met its primary endpoints. Avastin was able to extend the length of time before the disease worsened compared to placebo.

Avastin is already approved to treat breast cancer, but Genentech needed the data to satisfy the Food and Drug Administration -- which gave it an accelerated approval pending the outcome of this trial and the Avado trial, which has already come back positive. If this trial hadn't met its primary endpoints, the drug could have followed the same fate as AstraZeneca's (NYSE: AZN) Iressa -- a restrictive label that would make it impossible for Genentech to market Avastin to treat breast cancer.

Will the results help persuade Roche to up its bid for Genentech and get the deal done that's been dragging for four months now? There's certainly a little less risk involved now, but, without knowing why the negotiations have stalled, it's a little hard to know what it's going to take to get the deal done.

Even with the jump in price yesterday, Genentech is still trading below where it was before Roche announced its intentions to acquire Genentech. There's at least one company that thinks Genentech is worth $89 per share; I'm surprised that investors haven't followed suit.

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