GSK tipped to lead kidney cancer market
pharmafile | July 1, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Kidney cancer, Patorma, Votrient, rcc
GlaxoSmithKline’s kidney cancer drug Votrient has been forecast as a future leader in a marketplace currently dominated by Pfizer.
Analysts Decision Resources say the drug, previously known as Patorma, will be the top selling treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by 2019.
Votrient (pazopanib) is an angiogenesis inhibitor like Pfizer’s Sutent, which is currently the biggest selling treatment for the difficult to treat cancer.
GSK’s once-daily oral treatment attempts to prevent the growth of new blood vessels, which should in turn block the growth of kidney cancer tumours.
Votrient was recently granted conditional marketing authorisation in Europe, but with the requirement for GSK to provide ongoing clinical trials results from a head-to-head study of Votrient versus Sutent, which regulators want review in February 2011.
The drug gained US approval in October 2009 and is tipped to gather sales of nearly $630 million in 2019 from the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan.
“In 2009, angiogenesis inhibitors captured more than three-quarters of the renal cell carcinoma drug market, with Pfizer’s Sutent accounting for 61% of sales in this class,” said Decision Resources Analyst Karen Pomeranz.
“Angiogenesis inhibitors will continue to dominate this space during our forecast period, capturing nearly 90% of the market in 2019. However, in 2019, sales of Sutent will be significantly reduced, owing mainly to the robust uptake of Votrient.”
The Pharmacor 2010 findings also reveal that the emergence of two new targeted agents – Pfizer’s axitinib and Aveo Pharmaceuticals’ tivozanib – will penetrate this increasingly crowded market.
The analysts say that together these two agents will account for nearly one-third of sales in the renal cell carcinoma drug market in 2019.
Brett Wells
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