Posts tagged ‘Oncology Strategy’
We are delighted to announce the public launch of our annual “New Products MBA” program that involves custom monthly case studies and 1:1 coaching. Previously by private request only, this program is designed for senior executives with responsibility for new product development or those involved with strategic decision making in this area.
How does the coaching program work?
This is an individual program and lasts for one year during which 10 monthly case studies are undertaken on topics selected by the participant. These could be on a tumor type, pathway, indication or topic related to drug development e.g. the science and commercial challenges around chimeric antigen receptors. Case study topics are typically focused around the sponsoring company portfolio to enable learnings to be applied.
Each case study includes a 10-15 page written paper with background, analysis, insights and key strategic questions. Additional material in the form of scientific papers to read and videos to watch is also provided. The commitment required is equivalent to undertaking an Executive MBA.
Following review of the case study and accompanying material, a 1 to 1.5 hour 1:1 coaching session takes place by telephone with Sally Church, PhD in which key learnings are discussed.
Importantly, the program does not discuss confidential or proprietary information, it is focused on helping participants ask the right questions, not making a key decision for them.
Why is a new products coaching program necessary?
In recent years, oncology has become a fast changing environment where it is increasingly important to be able to see the scientific connections between pathways and tumor types, understand the emerging impact of new competitors with novel mechanisms of action, as well as biomarkers and companion diagnostics, and be aware of the evolving landscape for next generation immunotherapies.
What do participants gain from this program?
The result of this coaching program will be an increased scientific understanding that enhances the ability to ask the right strategic questions of New Product Development and Brand Marketing teams and enable more in-depth strategic collaboration at the both the senior and middle management level.
What level of staff is this program aimed at?
This program was originally developed for a board level senior executive at a global pharmaceutical company. Based on its success we are making it publicly available in 2013 to a limited number of participants. We anticipate that it would benefit those at the Senior Director to Executive VP level who are involved with a range of oncology new products.
How much does this coaching program cost?
The program is comparable in cost to attending an Executive MBA, please contact us if you would like to learn more.
Richard Steinman from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in “The Oncologist” (the journal of the Society of Translational Oncology), comments on the importance of the noncancerous cells in tumors (the stroma):
“The stroma, including fibroblasts, adipocytes, endothelial cells, and immune cells, had been demonstrated to provide critical metabolites to cancer cells and engages in tumor-promoting crosstalk with cancer cells.”
PET scan of enzyme MAO-B Image Source: NIH
Recent research has shown the ability to image metabolic markers of tumor activity. On Biotech Strategy Blog, Pieter Droppert writes about a metabolic marker of malignant glioma cells, 5-ALA (5-Amino-Levulinic-Acid) and how this may help glioblastoma surgery.
Meanwhile on Pharma Strategy Blog, Sally Church discusses the use of folate receptor alpha fluorescence imaging in ovarian cancer.
Imaging of metabolic markers may assist in the identification and targeting of critical mediators of cancer-stromal crosstalk. This is an interesting area to watch.
The forthcoming AACR-NCI-EORTC conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics has a plenary session on “Targeting the Tumor Stroma Interaction.“
Making a Difference to the Lives of Cancer Patients
Sally Church has written over 900 blog posts on Pharma Strategy Blog about oncology and hematology new product development.
One series of posts stands out, and that is the “Making a Difference” interviews with thought leaders and business visionaries who are making a difference to the lives of cancer patients.
The latest in the series has just been published – a video interview with Dr Gordon B. Mills MD, PhD of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Sally interviewed Dr Mills in Stockholm at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress where he gave a keynote presentation on personalized medicine in the presidential, plenary session of the meeting.
Anyone interested in cancer drug development strategy, personalized medicine and how industry and academia can collaborate together in drug development should watch this video.
The other interviews Sally has undertaken in the “Making a Difference” series are with Alain Moussy, Ross Camidge, Sue Desmond-Hellmann and Charles Sawyers.
We look forward to many more in the future.
After all the “excitement” of hurricane Irene last week in the New Jersey/New York metro area, this weekend offers the Labor Day holiday. It is to many the last hurrah of summer.
According to the United States Department of Labor, the public holiday on the first Monday in September pays tribute to the American worker, “creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership.”
Economic prosperity and access to healthcare are very much linked with employment in the United States, so it is sad to see the recent poor job creation results.
Icarus Consultants will be closed on Monday, September 5 and will reopen for business on Tuesday. We wish all our current and prospective pharma and biotech consulting clients an enjoyable weekend.
At ASCO this year, there was a lot of interest in BRAF mutated melanoma, with data being presented in the plenary session on vemurafenib (PLX4032) and ipilimumab.
However, as Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog points out, 40% of all new cancer cases are due to non-melanoma skin cancer, with over one million diagnoses each year in the US.
Sally discusses research published in the AACR journal Cancer Research by Mei Ming and colleagues from the University of Chicago on how the tumor suppressor gene phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted from chromosome ten (PTEN) regulates UVB-induced DNA damage.
The research shows that PTEN has a key role to play in human skin cancer formation and progression with low levels of PTEN associated with slower rates of DNA repair after UVB radiation damage.
As Sally notes on her blog, “a greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning non-melanoma skin cancer potentially means that chemoprevention strategies can be developed down the road.”
You can read more about the role PTEN plays in non-melanoma skin cancer on Pharma Strategy Blog.