Boehringer bids for oncology presence with lung cancer treatment
pharmafile | September 10, 2007 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
A novel treatment for lung cancer which could help patients who develop resistance to other drugs is being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Currently named BIBW 2992 and scheduled to enter phase III trials next year, the new drug is set to be the company's first oncology product.
Like many other companies, Boehringer is trying to break into the cancer market because of the growing understanding of how to target tumours and the growing importance of the area for pharma revenues.
BIBW 2992 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a class of drugs which work by blocking enzymes that play a key role in the growth of some cancer cells.
Two existing drugs from the class, AstraZeneca's Iressa and Roche's Tarceva, are already available, but Boehringer says its drug could offer advantages over these and other existing treatments.
The company says it offers promise because it blocks two kinases, EGFR and HER2, a unique effect which it believes could prevent tumour growth more effectively than existing single kinase blockers.
The drug could also give hope to patients who develop resistance to existing agents, like Iressa and Tarceva, and this will be the focus of its forthcoming phase III trial.
As with these rival drugs, BIBW 2992 could also benefit people with a specific genetic mutation which increases their risk of developing lung cancer, even in those who have never smoked.
The EGFR mutation is particularly prevalent in Asian populations, and these patients are likely to show a strong response to the drug.
Lead study investigator, Dr James Spicer, Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Medical Oncology at King's College School of Medicine in London, commented: "While we continue to strive for a cancer cure the quest to develop more advanced treatment options with improved patient outcomes goes on.
"Novel, irreversibly binding agents like BIBW 2992 provide us with a glimpse of the next chapter in the evolution of lung cancer care as they may bridge significant gaps in existing treatments, addressing issues such as treatment resistance, as well as providing hope for those lung cancer patients with specific genetic mutations, including those who have never smoked and patients particularly from East Asian populations."
Boehringer Ingelheim has another drug in its oncology pipeline, BIBF 1120, which targets no fewer than three key targets – vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR).
Dr Andreas Barner, vice chairman of the board at Boehringer Ingelheim, said of the company's emergence into the field of oncology: "We are using advances and breakthrough science to actively develop targeted therapies – biologicals and small molecules – in areas of unmet medical need, with a particular interest in lung cancer."
The company has a dedicated drug discovery facility for new cancer medicines, located in Vienna, Austria, and employing more than 200 scientists.
Clinical development work is done at Boehringer Ingelheim's site in Biberach, Germany, and both centres collaborate with independent research institutes and experts globally.
Oncology pharma's fastest growing market
The oncology market has been the one to watch in pharma for the last few years, and is now the second biggest therapy area by value and the fastest growing.
Market analysts IMS Health says the market is growing thanks to increasing volume and higher prices as new drugs come to market. It forecasts that oncology will be the largest sales value therapy area by 2009, worth an estimated $55 billion.
The pharma/biotech industry's oncology pipeline is by far the richest in number and potential value, andit is expected 50-55 new oncology products will be launched within the next five years with new players entering the market. IMS estimates that around 30% of all launches by 2010 will be in oncology.
