Targeted lung cancer therapies supplanting conventional drugs; report

Although lung cancer is the third most prevalent cancer type in the world, there are only 18 drugs in the market for its treatment. Further, popular drugs such as Alimta (pemetrexed) and Avastin (bevacizumab) are nearing their patent expiry in 2015 and 2017, respectively.

As such, the lung cancer therapeutics market offers vast potential that drug manufacturers are vying to tap into. Approximately 130 drugs for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are in various stages of development and are expected to hit the market by 2020.

A new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, A Product and Pipeline Analysis of the Lung Cancer Therapeutics Market, finds that many niche as well as established drug manufacturers are devoting resources to the research and development of targeted therapies, which are likely to replace conventional medicine within the next 10 years. The US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, FDA Japan and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are also encouraging investments in targeted therapies.

Intense competition among pharma majors