The Logic Of Biologics - Is Regeneron The Next Roche?

Tim Gallagher shared with you: Interesting stats from this article showing the value of Biologics >small molecules "For preclinical compounds, it takes an average of 44 small-molecule candidates to achieve one final approval versus nine biologic drug candidates In Phase II development, it takes an average of 11 small-molecule candidates to achieve one final approval versus four biologic drug candidates Only 19 percent of small-molecule compounds will advance from Phase II to Phase III studies, versus 44 percent for biologics Only 60 percent of small-molecule compounds will successfully complete Phase III studies versus 79 percent for biologics"   The Logic Of Biologics - Is Regeneron The Next Roche? forbes.com For preclinical compounds, it takes an average of 44 small-molecule candidates to achieve one final approval versus nine biologic drug candidates In Phase II development, it takes an average of 11 small-molecule candidates to achieve one final approval versus four biologic drug candidates Only 19 percent of small-molecule compounds will advance from Phase II to Phase III studies, versus 44 percent for biologics Only 60 percent of small-molecule compounds will successfully complete Phase III studies versus 79 percent for biologics

Top 10 promising cancer drugs in development

FierceBiotech - an indispensible web site (sign up for their daily news summaries) produces an annual list of most-intriguing/promising late stage cancer programs. Here's this year's edition - it's definitely worth a read.

I was struck by the diversity of approaches. The target/technology list includes:

cancer stem cells,
the proteasome,
androgen receptor signaling,
immunotherapy,
antibody-chemo conjugates,
tyrosine kinase signaling, and
anti-angiogenesis

The good news is that there is a broad and diverse anti-cancer effort underway. The bad news is……there is a broad and diverse anti-cancer effort underway….meaning we still don't know much about how to fight cancer effectively. From a decade ago, a few anti-cancer technologies have come (stem cells) and gone (gene therapy), and some technologies have increased validation (anti-angiogenesis) while others have fallen (immunotherapy), but the nature of the list hasn't changed a great deal.

One possible lesson from this list of candidates: anti-sense/RNAi and HDAC drug development are not currently as promising as they each were 3-5 years ago.