Green light for bladder cancer drug revolution
A BLOCKBUSTER bladder cancer treatment from AstraZeneca has been given the green light – the first commercial win for the giant since losing its best-selling cholesterol medicine to cheaper generics.
The Cambridge-based FTSE firm is hoping its new drug Imfinzi will go on to make billions of pounds, following the decline of its treatment Crestor, which has suffered from increased competition.
Imfinzi, which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, is a milestone for the British company, which has invested heavily in research and development in immuno-oncology – which uses drugs to target the body’s immune system to help fight cancer.
The new class of medicines are tipped to be the next big thing in drug development and a number of pharmaceutical heavyweights have been investing heavily in the sector in order to remain ahead of the flock.
American giants Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche have already received approval for their bladder cancer treatments and last week the boss of GlaxoSmithKline Emma Walmsley revealed the company would be focusing on developing blockbuster drugs – those that bring in at least £1bn a year – rather than launching lots of products.
AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi works by helping the body’s immune cells kill cancer – offering an alternative to chemotherapy.
It is offered to patients for whom chemotherapy has failed, and is the fifth bladder cancer drug of its kind to be approved in the US. The average wholesale cost of the drug in the US will be around £12,000 a month and, while it’s now only available in America, AstraZeneca said it plans to eventually seek EU approval for the drug.
The approval is a much-needed boost for Astra boss Pascal Soriot, who suffered a shareholder revolt over his pay last week.
Two-fifths of investors opposed his £13m pay package at the annual meeting in London, amid falling sales for the firm following the loss of its patent for Crestor.
But Soriot, who fought off a hostile takeover from US rival Pfizer in 2014, has been adamant the company can return to growth.
Now AstraZeneca is poised for its biggest breakthrough in the immunotherapy market that could see it topple rival GSK.
One of the most significant benefits of Imfinzi is its ability to shake up the market for lung cancer treatment. The drug’s biggest commercial opportunity lies in its ability to capture the previously untreated market with its combination therapy.
The MYSTIC trial, which is due to release its results in June or July, assesses the benefit of drugs Imfinzi with Tremelimumab, another immuno-oncology compound.
If approved, the drug would be the first of its kind to cover a combination treatment for lung cancer. Soriot said: ‘This first approval for Imfinzi is an important milestone in our return to growth.’