Roche’s Avastin Revoked for Use in Breast Cancer, FDA Says

U.S. regulators revoked approval of Roche AG’s Avastin as a treatment for metastatic breast cancer, a move the drugmaker has said could put as much as 800 million Swiss francs ($873 million) in revenue at risk.

Avastin, with $6.2 billion in 2010 sales, didn’t extend lives and triggered side effects including high blood pressure and bleeding when used for the disease, Commissioner Margaret Hamburg of the Food and Drug Administration in a statement today. The drug remains approved for colon, lung, kidney and brain cancer.