Posts tagged ‘prostate cancer market’
At the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary cancers symposium in Orlando (ASCO GU), Sally Church, PhD interviewed Professor Bertrand Tombal about some of the latest clinical research in prostate cancer.
Professor Tombal is a leading urologist from Belgium who we always enjoy listening to at major international scientific meetings.
He invests a lot of time in giving educational presentations that are thought provoking and strategic.
You can read Sally’s interview: “Making a difference in Advanced Prostate Cancer – an interview with Bertrand Tombal” on Pharma Strategy Blog.
In the interview, Professor Tombal says what prostate cancer clinical trial he would do if you gave him a million dollars. We are not going to give the game away by telling you the answer, only to say it’s a combination trial that has a sound scientific rationale.
Check out Sally’s excellent series of interviews on people who are “Making a difference to the lives of cancer patients” if you have not already done so.
The 2012 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium takes place at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York City from November 7 – 10. Fortunately, the timing avoids the disruption expected this week from Hurricane Sandy.
The Greenspan Meeting as it’s also known (in recognition of the late Ezra M. Greenspan MD, the symposium founder) provides the opportunity for oncologists to learn about new developments in cancer therapy.
It is a joint presentation by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the non-profit Chemotherapy Foundation.
Sally Church, PhD who frequently attends says she particularly “enjoys the lectures that give a broad strategic overview of a particular topic.”
There’s usually a good turnout from the NJ/NY pharma industry and it’s interesting to talk to local academic and community oncologists about their practice.
You can read more about last year’s prostate cancer session at the 2011 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium on Biotech Strategy Blog. The informative sessions cover a lot of ground and are well worth attending.
Update November 1, 2012 – Symposium not cancelled after Storm Sandy
Good to see The Chemotherapy Foundation announce on twitter today that the symposium will go on as scheduled. Hopefully the transport network will have some semblance of normality by then otherwise it will remain a challenge for many in the local area to attend.
The Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium will go on as scheduled. You can still register on chemotherapyfoundationsymposium.org
— Chemo Fdtn Symposium (@tcfsymposium) November 1, 2012
The prostate cancer market continues to evolve at a fast pace. Companies with products on the market or in development will need to adapt their marketing strategy to the changing prostate cancer market dynamics. Some of the recent news includes:
MDV3100 shows 4.8 improvement in median overall survival
Sally Church, PhD on Pharma Strategy Blog interviewed David Hung, MD CEO of Medivation and discussed the MDV3100 clinical trial data presented at ASCO GU.
Sally has been following the development of MDV3100 for a while, and previously interviewed Dr Charles Sawyers one of the co-developers.
MDV3100 showed an improvement in median overall survival of 4.8 months in advanced prostate cancer, and offers a number of significant advantages over abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) due to its different mechanism of action on the androgen receptor.
One of the advantages is it’s ability to target splice variants:
You can read more about MDV3100 on Pharma Strategy Blog.
Is ARN-509 more effective than MDV3100?
Another interesting compound in prostate cancer drug development is Aragon’s ARN-509. Recent research published in the AACR journal, “Cancer Research” suggests that ARN-509 may be a more potent androgen-receptor antagonist than MDV3100.
Whether ARN-509 will make it to market remains in question given that Medivation claim the compound was part of the intellectual property it acquired from UCLA along with what became MDV3100.
You can read more about the potential of Aragon’s ARN-509 in prostate cancer on Pharma Strategy Blog.
Radium-223 (Alpharadin) significantly prolongs time to first Skeletal Related Event
Pieter Droppert has written on Biotech Strategy Blog about the radium-223 (Alpharadin) clinical trial data presented by Dr Oliver Sartor at ASCO GU.
Alpharadin is a bone targeted radiopharmaceutical that has shown not only a significant delay in the time to first skeletal related event (SRE) but an increase in overall survival.
Dr Sartor kindly offered some clinical perspective on the data that you can read on Biotech Strategy Blog.
In case you missed it, the video interview with Dr Chris Parker at ECCO/ESMO 2011 in Stockholm offers further information on radium-223 and the ALSYMPCA trial results:
Amgen fails to convince ODAC that Xgeva should have a prostate bone mets indication
If you were following the prostate cancer news this past week, then the ODAC 12:1 vote against granting an indication for denosumab (Xgeva) for the prevention of prostate cancer bone metastases was in the news
Pieter Droppert collated the Xgeva ODAC meeting tweets on Storify if you are interested in what was live tweeted during the meeting.
Once Alpharadin is approved will radiation oncologists now get more involved in the treatment of prostate cancer and how will this impact the market dynamics? Will urologists favor MDV3100 that does not require administration of prednisone at the expense of Zytiga?
Companies will need to adapt their marketing strategy as new prostate cancer new products come to market in 2012.
The Society for Translational Oncology (STO) recently held a prostate cancer symposium in Belfast.
In a post on Biotech Strategy Blog, Pieter Droppert reviews the STO video discussion on “Prostate Cancer: Progress & Promise”
One of the key insights is that targeting ERG signaling may be key to treating prostate cancer, and that ERG becomes a druggable target by inhibiting PARP.
Sally Church has written about the work of Arul Chinnaiyan’s lab on TMPRSS2:ERG and how this may be a more useful marker than PSA in prostate cancer.
You can read more on Pharma Strategy Blog about whether personalized therapy for prostate cancer is possible?
Sally will be attending the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) special conference on “Advances in Prostate Cancer Research” in Orlando from February 6-9, 2012.
Co-chaired by Arul Chinnaiyan and Charles Sawyers, the meeting features plenary sessions on genomic and molecular profiling, prognostic signatures, androgen receptor signaling, drug development, ETS gene fusions, prostate cancer initiation and progression, and imaging.
If you have an interest in prostate cancer drug development and translational research this meeting looks well worth attending.
The fast moving prostate cancer market took another leap forward last week with the announcement of positive phase III data for Medivation’s MDV3100.
As reported by Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog, Medivation announced that the interim analysis of the AFFIRM trial showed a 4.8 month increase in overall survival (OS) compared to placebo.
Although this is only interim and not final data, Sally observed:
“the 4.8 month improvement in OS in post-chemo setting is superior to that previously seen reported for abiraterone (Zytiga), which had a 3.9 month advantage over placebo.”
Pieter Droppert on Biotech Strategy Blog noted, MDV3100 and Zytiga have completely different mechanisms of action in advanced prostate cancer.
MDV3100 is an androgen receptor blocker, while Zytiga is an androgen biosynthesis inhibitor. This distinction is key. Zytiga inhibits the CYP17 enzyzme complex required for androgen biosynthesis. However, a consequence of CYP17 inhibition is an increase in mineralocorticoid levels, which can lead to hypokalemia, hypertension, fluid retention.
The result is that Zytiga requires coadministration of a corticosteroid (prednisone) to reduce the incidence and severity of potential mineralocorticoid adverse reactions.
MDV3100 does not require the administration of a steroid, which is a big advantage to patients. Instead it blocks the androgen receptor (AR) that is highly expressed on prostate cancer cells.
Cora Sternberg presents Prostate Cancer Educational Symposia at EMCC 2011 in Stockholm
There are a lot of new products in the pipeline for prostate cancer including TAK-700, Cabozantinib (XL184), radium-223 chloride (Alpharadin), BPX-101, Prostvac-VF, ipilumumab, Custirsen (OGX-011), dasatinib (Sprycel), lenalidomide (Revlimid) and ARN-509 to name a few.
The prostate cancer market is forecast to grow from $1B to $5B by 2015 as new products are approved and new treatment options become available. This is good news for advanced prostate cancer patients.
One of the pharma marketing strategy consulting services that we offer clients is a competitive landscape, market opportunity report.
These custom reports analyze a pathway, disease, tumor type or competitive set, and can include a thorough analysis of clinical data, biomarkers, epidemiology, market size and competitor activity. All our work comes with actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
Once our clients understand the competitive landscape, and the market opportunity for their product we often generate a path to market strategy.
One of the ways our consultants keep abreast of current pharma/biotech industry news is through writing about science and clinical data.
Following the recent 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC 2011), the joint meeting of ESMO, ECCO and ESTRO, Sally Church wrote an in-depth analysis of the phase II data for T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine) in first line metastatic breast cancer. You can read more on Pharma Strategy Blog.
Meanwhile on Biotech Strategy Blog, Pieter Droppert interviewed Dr Chris Parker about the phase III, ALSYMPCA trial results for radium-223 (Alpharadin) in advanced prostate cancer.
This radiopharmaceutical provides new treatment options for a neglected group of men who are unable to take chemotherapy. You can read more on Biotech Strategy Blog, and also watch the video interview below:
Alpharadin may change standard of care for prostate cancer patients with bone mets
September 29th, 2011
Daedalus
We recently attended the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm. Paradigm shifting data in breast cancer and advanced prostate cancer were presented at what turned out to be an excellent meeting in a charming, if expensive, city.
Sally Church (@MaverickNY) live tweeted several sessions from the meeting and was name the “Top Twitter Influencer” for the #EMCC2011 hashtag. You can catch up with the tweets fron ECCO ESMO ESTRO 2011 on Pharma Strategy Blog.
Pieter Droppert (@3NT) has written several posts on biotech strategy blog about the exciting data for radium-223 (Alpharadin) in advanced prostate cancer that was presented in Stockholm.
He also produced a video of the media briefing by Dr Chris Parker from the Royal Marsden Hospital where the ALSYMPCA phase 3 trial results were reviewed. It is well worth watching!
Please contact us if you would like to learn more about the fast moving Prostate Cancer market and how pharma marketing strategy may be impacted by the new products in development such as radium-223 (Alpharadin), that is on fast track for FDA approval in 2012.
It’s exciting to see new products that make a difference to patients come to market. Multiple treatments improve overall survival (OS) in prostate cancer patients: docetaxel, cabazitaxel, sipuleucel-T, abiraterone acetate and now, radium-223 choloride.
The phase 3 trial results for radium 223 chloride were presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (ESMO, ECCO, ESTRO) in Stockholm this past weekend.
Pieter Droppert has two posts on Biotech Strategy Blog from the Congress about the potentially “practice changing” Alpharadin prostate cancer data:
- Alpharadin will be a new treatment option for Prostate Cancer
- Alpharadin Prostate Cancer data will be “practice changing”
He also took the opportunity to interview Dr Chris Parker, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden Hospital, who presented the ALSYMPCA phase 3 trial results, and a video blog post will follow.
Live conference twitter board at #EMCC2011
Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog aggregated all the tweets from the 2011 ESMO ECCO congress in Stockholm. With only a few people tweeting, the twitter stream doesn’t report all the news, but does give a flavor of an excellent cancer meeting with a good balance of science and clinical data.
It’s an exciting time for prostate cancer patients and physicians with multiple new treatment options on the horizon. However, the fast moving and dynamic prostate cancer market is likely to present Pharma/Biotech marketing strategy professionals with opportunities and challenges. Alpharadin is on the fast track to FDA approval in 2012.
Next week sees the start of the 2011 Stockholm Cancer Congress – a joint multidisciplinary meeting of ECCO, ESMO and ESTRO.
What’s likely to be hot news from Stockholm? On Biotech Strategy Blog, Pieter Droppert has highlighted the phase III data to be presented at ECCO 2011 on Alpharadin (radium-223 chloride) in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
The prostate cancer market is set to become interesting from a commercial and marketing strategy perspective, with several new products in late phase development for CRPC including MDV3100, TAK-700, lenalidomide, Alpharadin, custirsen, Prostvac to name but a few. The Alpharadin data from the ALSYMPCA trial will be presented as a late breaking abstract in the presidential session on Saturday September 24th. Based on the interim data previously released, positive data is expected.
The best abstract at ECCO 2011, however, is the data on hedgehog pathway (Hh) inhibitor, vismodegib in advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC). This will also be presented in the presidential session on Saturday 24th.
Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog has written extensively about hedgehog inhibitors and earlier this week wrote about the news that Roche had filed for FDA approval of vismodegib. Given the accolade of “best abstract” and the data presented in the plenary session at the AACR annual meeting earlier this year, we can expect good news for patients who at present have no treatment options.
As Sally notes, vismodegib (GDC-0449) if approved by the FDA, “will offer the first proof of concept for the role of Hedgehog and Smoothend Inhibition in the treatment of cancer.”
The prostate cancer market is dynamic, with a lot of news happening. One of the many new treatments in development worth watching is custirsen (OGX-011).
Sally Church on Pharma Strategy Blog recently wrote about Custirsen from OncoGeneX. This drug inhibits the production of clusterin, a protein associated with the development of treatment resistance. As Sally notes it is in essence a “chemo enhancer.”
Photo: OncoGeneX
Phase 3 trials with custirsen are currently underway in castrate resistant prostate cancer patients receiving docetaxel in the first and second line setting.
The potential to improve the efficacy of docetaxel may be of commercial interest as more generic versions become available. According to IMS Health, sales of generic and branded docetaxel were approximately $1.1 billion for the year from June 2010 to June 2011.
This week Sandoz entered the market with their announcement of the FDA approval and launch of their generic version of Taxotere®.
It will be interesting to see whether use of custirsen with docetaxel increases overall survival (OS) in the phase III CRPC trials, and if it does how this compares to other recently approved CRPC treatments such as Zytiga™ (abiraterone acetate).
As Sally noted in her video blog post from the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA), there is also preliminary scientific data to suggest that custirsen may improve the efficacy of androgen receptor antagonists such as MDV3100 from Medivation/Astellas.
We expect there will be new data on prostate cancer new products in development at the ESMO/ECCO European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm in late September. The possibility of new treatment options is good news for prostate cancer patients. It is a market definitely worth watching.