Record number of cancer medicines now in trials or awaiting FDA approval in USA

A record 887 medicines for various of cancers are in clinical trials or awaiting Food and Drug Administration review - well over double the number in the pipeline just six years ago, according to a report unveiled this week by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

When the PhRMA released its first accounting of medicines in development for cancer in 1988, only 65 were recorded. The numbers over the next decade grew gradually. As recently as 2005, there were fewer than 400 medicines in development for cancer.

“Unprecedented insights into how cancer cells develop, grow and spread are providing new targets and new ways of attacking the disease,” said John Castellani, PhRMA’s president and chief executive, explaining the increase, and “rapidly advancing technologies and the commitment of researchers to follow new clues are providing hope.”