What’s hot at ASCO 2012?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Daedalus

ASCO 2012 Meeting Chicago 225x300 Whats hot at ASCO 2012? The 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) takes place in Chicago in just over two weeks time from June 1 – 5. The ASCO abstracts will be publicly available tomorrow (May 16) at 6pm EDT.

We’re looking forward to being at ASCO, and picking up the latest data for new products and evaluating the impact this may have on our understanding of key pathways and drug development targets.

If you want to know what Sally Church, PhD predicts will be highlights of the ASCO 2012 meeting (in the absence of any abstract information) then watch her informative video and check out her ASCO preview post on Pharma Strategy Blog.

If you plan to be at ASCO 2012 and would like to meet up and discuss our capabilities, please contact us.

AACR 2012 meeting: a window into potential new cancer drugs

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Daedalus

Bill Sellers gives an AACR plenary talk

The annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), held in Chicago earlier this month, is one of the most important meetings of the year for cancer scientists, pharma/biotech drug development and new products professionals.

Bill Sellers, in the AACR plenary session, described how Novartis are using the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) in conjunction with the Broad Institute to identify promising new compounds.

As Sally Church, PhD noted on Pharma Strategy Blog in her post on the highlights of AACR 2012:

“What made the meeting exciting for me was the sheer number of new compounds emerging from late preclinical to early phase 1.”

Two of the many promising new drugs in early stages of development were highlighted on Biotech Strategy Blog:

AZD3514 (AstraZeneca), a selective androgen receptor down regulator (SARD) in phase 1 clinical trials for castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

ABT-199 (Abbott), a new Bcl-2 inhibitor (that improves on navitoclax), in phase 1 drug development for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

David Woessner (@pinfoto)

There were many noteworthy posters presented at AACR particularly from young researchers

e.g. “Overcoming resistance to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in non-small cell lung cancer” was a poster that suggested the prospect of future drug development targets.

Laura Strong, PhD (@scientre)

During the high quality poster and oral sessions, we met numerous people including CEOs of baby biotechs, young researchers and clinicians with an interest in translational research, including Laura Strong, Ph.D President & COO of Quintessence Biosciences (@scientre), David Woessner who was presenting his PhD research (@pinfoto) and Philippe Aftimos, MD from Belgium (@aftimosp), all of whom were actively sharing their observations during numerous sessions via Twitter during the conference.

The annual meeting is not just about basic science though, but also drug development strategy and emerging research trends, such as the automation of preclinical drug discovery, as well as the collaboration between academia and Pharma/Biotech in combination clinical trials using two novel compounds from different companies. This last trend, I am pleased to say, has already begun and will hopefully continue apace in the future.

If you were not able to attend AACR, then Sally Church aggregated all the #AACR tweets from the meeting on Pharma Strategy Blog. AACR also have webcasts of some of the sessions available, including some with free access.

We’re already looking forward to AACR 2013 in Washington, DC and the timing of the meeting means it should take place when the renowned Cherry Blossom are in full bloom. Hopefully, this will provide a great opportunity for another Pharma Strategy Blog video!

Do you know who your thought leaders are and what they think about your product?

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Daedalus

One of the emerging trends we saw at the recent European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Paris was an increase in the number of plenary and session presentations by physicians from Eastern European countries.

This trend is set to continue, and we expect to see more physicians from the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) group of countries and other emerging markets presenting at global science and medical meetings in the future.

Poland is a good example of a country that should be on the radar of any global pharmaceutical company. It is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, and was the only European country to avoid a recession in 2008-2009.

It was interesting to note that Tomasz Borkowski (Department of Urology at the Medical University of Warsaw) who gave a major session presentation at EAU on “Cancer induced bone disease – prevention and treatment’ listed only one company on his disclosures.

Clearly, some companies are ahead of others in identifying and building relationships with thought or key opinion leaders (KOLs) as they are commonly known.

One of the services we offer clients is market research with thought leaders at the global, national and regional level. Like all market research, this is anonymous – you don’t know the name or the institution and the physician doesn’t know who the sponsor is. This allows the doctor to speak more freely. This type of market research can provide valuable insights into what they think about a product or market opportunity with less bias.

Do you know who your thought leaders are and what think about your product? If not, please contact us and we would be delighted to help you meet your brand business goals.

Abiraterone price may be discounted 40% for UK NICE approval

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Daedalus

At the recent European Association of Urology (EAU) Annual Congress in Paris, one of the rumours was that the price of abiraterone (Zytiga) has been discounted 40% to the UK National Health Service (NHS) in order to obtain reimbursement approval from the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE).

As Sally notes in her video report from EAU 2012, if true, this has important commercial implications in the advanced prostate cancer market and potential new entrants such as MDV3100.

When looking at the prostate cancer competitive landscape and a market entry strategy, one of the issues to consider is reimbursement.

Regulatory approval to market a drug in Europe does not automatically mean it will be reimbursed or paid for by healthcare providers. Abiraterone is a good example of this.

Another driver of price and reimbursement will be the cumulative cost of treatment for advanced prostate cancer. This is set to increase dramatically as new products such as MDV3100 and Alpharadin come to market, and their use moves from post-chemotherapy to the pre-chemotherapy setting.

You can gain more insights on some of the future challenges by watching Sally’s excellent conference coverage video from EAU 2012:

There is also more information from EAU 2012 on Biotech Strategy Blog e.g. on Bayer’s Expanded Access Program for Alpharadin and an update on Millennium’s orteronel (TAK-700), a competitor to abiraterone.

Sally’s next conference video will be from the forthcoming American Assocation for Cancer Research (AACR) 2012 annual meeting that takes in place Chicago from March 31 – April 4. We hope to see you there.

Pharma Conference Coverage Strategy

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Daedalus

We live in a world of data that threatens to overwhelm our work and personal lives. Part of the reason for this is the price of data storage continues to fall dramatically.

Today, an external hard drive offers a 1TB capacity; a few years ago the same product offered 100GB. A 10x increase in storage capacity for the same money in the space of a few years.

Data is now available from online posters, abstracts, webcasts and presentations. We also have Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and other social media competing for our time.

ASCO 2011: “the never ending walk”

What this means is that if you plan to attend a major medical or scientific meeting such as the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which offers a lot of data, you need to have a conference coverage strategy.

Here are a few tips we suggest you consider:

Don’t go for a “Data Dump”

Too often we see a “fear of missing out” (FOMO) mentality drive a “we must capture everything” policy. All this results in is a mass of data that somebody has to analyze after the meeting. Too often a 300+ page data dump report (when it finally is produced) ends up sitting on the metaphorical shelf.

Focus on Key Questions

Prior to a major medical or scientific meeting it’s important to develop a list of the key questions that a brand, commercial or new products team need answered. The questions could be on competitor activity, developments in a pathway or impact of clinical data on the standard of care. Data collection can then be focusoned on answering those key questions.

Insights cost more

Recently, staff at a top 20 pharma company told us they were paying $X for a conference “data dump” but only had 10% of $X available for strategic insights. In Twitter speak, they had #LostThePlot as it should be the other way round since insights are more valuable than raw data.

As management consultants, we might produce a Powerpoint slide with a table or chart based on data from 20 posters. In order to select those 20 key posters, we could have reviewed perhaps 200 posters originally. Which would you rather have, one slide with insights and analysis or 200 Powerpoint slides with data? Our philosophy is “less is more.”

Insights cost more because it takes in-depth therapeutic area knowledge and expertise to condense data into a meaningful story and make strategic recommendations.

What is your conference coverage strategy for this year? Please contact us if you would like to learn more about our capabilities.

Follow JP Morgan Healthcare Conference #JPM12

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Daedalus

This weeks sees the start of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Thousands of pharma/biotech investors, analysts, venture capitalists and company executives will meet to pitch, showcase their companies and make deals. A lot of people seemed to be on the same “VC express” flight from the East Coast.

Although many of the corporate presentations will be webcast over the next few days, it is expected that a lot of the news and commentary will be shared on twitter.

We are aggregating the #JPM12 tweets. If you are unable to be in San Francisco, you can follow the conversation below:

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=d242f0d814" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.coveritlive.com']);" >JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2012</a>

Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase is a novel target for B-Cell Malignancies

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Daedalus

ASH 2011 Poster Session

Two Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) inhibitors in clinical development (PCI-32765 & AVL-292) generated a lot of interest at the recent American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in San Diego.

Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog has been following BTK as a novel drug development target, and saw its potential in early data presented at ASH 2010 and ASCO 2011.

Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase is a critical kinase for lymphoma cell survival and proliferation. It plays an important role in B-lymphocyte development, differentiation and signaling. As Sally noted on Pharma Strategy Blog:

“It is a critical part of the BCL pathway that leads to cell proliferation, so targeting it leads to cell death or apoptosis.”

Sally’s insightful blog post goes into more detail on the Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase clinical data presented at ASH by Dr Susan O’Brien (MD Anderson Cancer Center).

A number of companies are now taking an interest in BTK inhibition. Johnson & Johnson announced a $1B licensing deal for PCI-32765 just prior to the meeting. Sally’s analysis of this was:

“Based on the data seen over the last two years, I thought they got a steal”

BTK inhibition looks to be a promising target for B-cell malignancies such as non-hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) & chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This is good news for patients.

BTK inhibitors are a new class of targeted therapies that we can expect to hear more about in the future.

What will be hot at ASCO 2012 in Chicago?

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Daedalus

ASCO 2012 is in Chicago from June 1 – 5

While everyone is busy making predictions about what the New Year will bring, we are already thinking about what are going to be hot topics at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

ASCO is the largest and most important meeting of the year for those involved in oncology new product development and marketing strategy.

Predicting what will be hot at a meeting and when new trial data will be presented is not easy. However, positive or negative data from a major clinical trial can have a huge impact on a market or in the case of new products in development, the market potential.

Prior to ASCO 2011, Sally Church produced the following preview video. It’s still worth watching if you missed it the first time round.

Sally has already started working on her list of what may be hot at ASCO 2012 in preparation for this year’s video.

On Pharma Strategy Blog yesterday, Sally discussed the recent results for the VEGF inhibitor tivozanib (AVEO/Astellas) in advanced renal cancer (RCC).

Tivozanib showed a greater progression free survival (PFS) compared to sorafenib, but “the sorafenib arm did better than expected,” noted Sally. You can read more analysis about what this means on Pharma Strategy Blog.

The tivozanib data has been submitted as an abstract for ASCO this year (abstract deadline is February 1st), leading Sally to conclude that:

“This year’s ASCO is going to be a most interesting meeting for renal cell cancer.”

Time perhaps to starting making your New Year predictions of what may be hot at ASCO in 2012?

Update May 16, 2012 – What’s hot at ASCO 2012?

Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog has published her preview of the ASCO 2012 meeting and what interesting data she’s expecting at #ASCO12.

You can watch Sally’s informative video below:

ASH 2011 Hematology Annual Meeting

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Daedalus

ASH 2011 Seattle Genetics Adcetris MOA Balloons 300x225 ASH 2011 Hematology Annual Meeting The 2011 American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting recently took place in San Diego.

What was hot at ASH in 2011?

In her pre-conference post, Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog outlined what she thought would be hot news and interesting data at ASH in 2011.

Amongst the topics she selected were:

CML: updated phase II PACE trial results for ponatinib

Myelofibrosis: updated phase III data from COMFORT-1 trial of ruxolitinib

Myeloma: 5 year data from VISTA trial that compares the combination of Velcade, melphalan and prednisone (VMP) with melphalan and prednisone (MP) alone

Lymphoma: the CD20 antibody obinutuzumab (GA101).

Sally also mentioned in her pre-conference post a few other compounds likely to be interesting in lymphomas such as the Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor PCI-32765 (Pharmacyclics) and the aurora kinase A inhibitor, alisertib (Seattle Genetics).

What were your predictions pre-ASH 2011?

It’s not easy to analyze a conference program that contains over 4000+ posters and predict what is going to be a hot topic, and commit to this in public in advance!

To do so requires an understanding of new products in development, mechanisms of action, prior clinical trial results and the impact positive or negative data may have on the standard of care.

If you went to ASH 2011 – how do you think Sally’s predictions stacked up? Sally will be writing her own retrospective assessment in due course.

Although the San Diego weather was much wetter and cooler than expected, there was a lot of interesting data presented at ASH this year that more than made up for it.

Review #ASH11 Twitter Coverage

If you want to read what others thought was hot during the meeting, the #ASH11 tweets have been aggregated on Pharma Strategy Blog.

Impressive results for pertuzumab in CLEOPATRA breast cancer trial

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Daedalus

SABCS 2011 Jose Baselga Interview 300x225 Impressive results for pertuzumab in CLEOPATRA breast cancer trial At the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), the clinical evaluation of pertuzumab and trastuzumab (CLEOPATRA) clinical trial results were presented by Dr José Baselga (Massachusetts General Hospital).

This study combined two anti human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) monoclonal antibodies, trastuzumab and pertuzumab with docetaxel.

Results showed a median progression-free survival of 18.5 months in the pertuzumab plus trastuzumab plus docetaxel group as compared to 12.4 months in the control group that received placebo plus trastuzumab plus docetaxel.

In other words the addition of pertuzumab improved PFS by 6.1 months. As Sally Church writing on Pharma Strategy Blog noted in her second update from SABCS, this is “another stunning six month leap in survival.”

The two monoclonal antibodies have different mechanisms of action and as Sally discusses in her post,

“the idea behind combining pertuzumab and trastuzumab upfront is to enable a more comprehensive shutdown of the HER2 pathway and delay the resistance setting in.”

You can read more on Pharma Strategy Blog. There was a lot of new data presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium this year, and seeing the improvement in patient survival from BOLERO-2 and CLEOPATRA is what all those involved in the industry live for.

Sally poignantly describes this in her summary of SABCS:

“This year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium was very uplifting and one of the more exciting meetings of the last five years.”

Please contact us If you are interested in learning more about the breast cancer market and the impact new products in development such as the antibody drug conjugate T-DM1 and HDAC inhibitor, entinostat may have.

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