Tailor made treatments in oncology to dominate future therapy

Cancer treatments are becoming increasingly personalized, as regulators are approving therapeutics offering significant benefits to small target populations, according to a new report by health care experts GBI Research, which states that, although therapeutic options that target a small population are expensive, their uptake is expected to be rapid in the target population.

The approval of Pfizer’s Xalkori (crizotinib), which treats only 5% of the total non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient population, and the change in Erbitux’ (cetuximab) coverage of the colorectal cancer patient population (from every patient to wild type V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) patients) indicates a shift in focus to more personalized cancer treatment.

The launch of novel pipeline molecules such as Avastin (bevacizumab), T-DM1, Afinitor (everolimus), iniparib, afatinib, V503, Tykerb (lapatinib) and Thera CIM, is projected to add $2,979 million in revenue by 2018. These novel molecules are forecast to be launched during the next six years, and are expected to increase progression-free survival, therefore promising a better life to many cancer patients. The molecules are also expected to address the safety and unmet needs of various cancer treatments for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, NSCLC and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL).